


The Warling

by CatWinchester



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Asgard, BDSM, Dom Loki, Dom/sub, F/M, Loki Redemption, Loss, Love, Miðgarðr | Midgard, Odin is a dick, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Spanking, vanir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-20 12:40:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3650694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatWinchester/pseuds/CatWinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following the Aesir-Vanir War, brother and sister, Nerthus and Njord are given to Asgard by the Vanir, to advise the Aesir and help ensure peace. Instead Odin gives them to his sons as a spoil of war, to do as they please with. Bitter about not being allowed to choose, Loki is saddled with Nerthus, and takes his frustrations out on her.</p><p>Mira works for the diplomatic service on Earth but every night, her dreams are plagued by Loki. When he invades New York, she realises that he isn’t just a figment of her imagination, but how can a human find a Norse God? </p><p>Spanning all 4 movies, The Warling is a story of love, loss and redemption.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

When she joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mira had some idea of helping. She had joined straight out of university and been fast tracked, stationed abroad within a few years and well on her way to a position where she could do some real good.

Until she was stationed in Estonia and her career ground to a shuddering halt, thanks to her boss here. A shallow, vain and misogynistic man, once she had refused his sexual advances, she had been relegated to little more than filing clerk.

She could have reported him but she was still low on the totem pole and he had been a diplomat for nearly 30 years. She could have left and sued for discrimination but she knew if she did that, her career in the diplomatic service would be over. In truth, either option would effectively end her career; no one wanted a whistle blower.

So she stayed where she was, played nice and hoped that when she was moved on, her boss wouldn’t speak too ill of her.

Everyone else here seemed to view her as a leper, as if by being her friend they would have sided with her, and might receive the same treatment as she had.

This was just a temporary setback, she tried to tell herself, although she would be lying if she said that her current situation had not affected her mood.

She was depressed, she didn’t mind admitting it, and the only bright spot in her day was the night, for every night, her dreams took her on mythical adventures to magical lands. In her dreams she was a sorcerer, able to do all sorts of magic. In her dreams she was a warrior, fighting epic battles. In her dreams, she was respected, having the ear of the rulers.

And in her dreams only, she was loved. She had a twin brother she was raised with and the bond between them was as strong as any she had read about before. Just recently too, she had met someone new in her dreams, a dark, and wounded soul and she knew, before even her dreams had shown her, she knew that she loved him.

Her dark prince. Her God of Mischief. Her Loki.

If only he were more than a dream.

***

Nerthus and Njord stood before Odin’s throne, his court and many people of Asgard in attendance at the ceremony, to hear the official announcement of the end of the AesirVanir war.

Nerthus looked to her brother, feeling nervous for reasons she couldn’t explain. As the God and Goddess of Peace, they had been given to Odin as part of the peace treaty between their peoples, just as two of Asgard’s wisest men had been given to Vanaheim, in the hopes that their presence could help bring to peace to all of the nine realms.

Nerthus knew something was wrong though and from the look he gave her, she thought that her brother felt the same.

Suddenly Odin stood up and banged Gungnir on the dais and the room fell silent.

“Citizens of Asgard, it is with great pleasure that I declare the war against Vanaheim over. We have won!”

The crowd clapped and cheered and Odin allowed it for a moment, until he banged the scepter again.

“To cement the peace between us, the Vanir have gifted us their gods of peace, Nerthus and Njord and as the future leaders of the nine realms, and a reward to my sons for their valiant effort in their first great battle, I offer them the Vanir’s generous gift. It is my hope that they may learn from our foes and become the better for it.”

The crowd clapped and Nerthus looked at her brother. This was not what was supposed to happen. Right now, the Asgardian emissaries were being made chiefs, given responsibility and respect, not given away as playthings to two rather juvenile warriors.

“Thor,” Odin didn’t bother to silence the crowd this time. “Step forward and choose your servant.”

The cheers increased as Thor descended the steps from Odin’s throne, his arms raised high in victory, and the cheering grew louder.

Thor looked her over first and she bristled under his possessive gaze.

She and her brother were polar opposites, much like the Odinsons. Her brother was black haired and olive skinned, while she had silver white hair and a pale complexion.

“Too skinny,” Thor eventually declared, placing a hand on her brother’s shoulder, making him stagger despite his muscular build. “You will be my servant,” Thor yelled, and the crowd cheered with him.

The other son, Loki, was glaring at his brother, looking rather as if he was sucking on a lemon. Thor slung an arm around her brother shoulder then to her surprise, grabbed her arm and dragged her up the steps with them.

“Here, Loki, she is pretty is she not?” Thor asked.

Loki barely spared her a glance but Thor literally dragged her and Njord into place, behind them and one step below on the stairs.

Nerthus caught Frigga’s eye and the Queen, who was also from the Vanir race, gave her a sympathetic look. Centuries ago, Frigga had been given to Odin with the intention of assuring peace between their people but obviously, it hadn’t lasted.

Odin banged Gungnir again and silence felon the chamber.

“I declare a three day feast in honour of our victory.” The crowd cheered again,

‘ _Don’t they know any other reactions?_ ’ Nerthus thought, and Odin left the dais, his wife and sons following after him.

She shared a sad look with Njord and after taking each other’s hands, reluctantly, they followed after their new ‘masters’.

All three parties split off in separate directions and Nerthus held Njord’s hand until the last second, their arms outstretched long after their fingers had lost contact.

Nerthus followed Loki into his chambers, where his belongings, those he took to the war, had been stacked by the door.

“Run me a bath,” he ordered.

She didn’t know if she should. Yes, she had been given to the Aesir but she too was a God, not a servant, and this was not why she was given to Odin.

“Did you hear me?” Loki turned to her and truly looked at her for the first time.

“I’m not a servant.”

“You were given to me, a spoil of war, so you will do whatever I say you do. I say you are my servant, so run me a bath!”

She could see that he was full of anger, not directed at her, she was just the easiest target. Really, what would it cost her to run him a bath? She was the goddess of peace, after all, surely she should try and make peace with her new… master.

“As you wish.”

She easily found the bathroom and filled the tub with hot water, using her magic.

“It is ready,” she said, returning to the main room.

“So quickly?”

She gestured for him to see for himself, and he stormed past her.

“You have magic!” he hissed.

“Yes.”

He turned back to her, glaring. Did he think he was the only magician in the nine realms? She held her sharp retorts back however.

“Undress me,” he ordered.

She considered telling him that she wasn’t his valet but he was probably waiting for her to protest, so with a wave of her hand, his clothes disappeared with a magical shimmer.

“How did you do that?”

“Magic.”

Now he was looking positively murderous. What was his problem? So much anger and resentment must be eating at his soul.

“You’re wounded,” she said, noticing some deep cuts and a possible stab wound. “Would you like me to clean and heal them for you?”

With a magical shimmer, he healed his own cuts, and she wondered why he hadn’t done so earlier, before the ceremony.

He had a nice body, she noted, not overly muscular but lean and well proportioned, with wide shoulders and a narrow waist. He would be quite a handsome man, if he did not scowl so much.

He stepped into the warm water and sighed as he sank back.

Sensing that he might try further humiliating her, she offered before he could ask. “Would you like me to bathe you?”

“Master.”

“Pardon?”

“You will address me as Master.”

“As you wish, Master.”

He gave her an appraising look. “I don’t need help bathing, start unpacking my belongings instead.”

“Yes… Master.” She almost choked on the word, then she nodded and left him there.

She had no idea where his belongings should go but she assumed she would get used to it. She wondered who usually took care of this sort of thing, and why he was insisting she do it. It wasn’t as if she chose to be given to him.

She continued working, opening closets, cupboards and drawers, until she had an idea of where some things went, at least. She also discovered her room, which led off Loki’s, and was very well appointed. She knew it was hers because the few possessions she had brought had been put in there.

Loki emerged half an hour later, as naked as the day he was born, and strolled to the bed, slipping under the covers.

“Wake me in three hours,” he ordered. “And don’t make too much noise.”

She didn’t answer for fear that she might snap at him, so she simply used her magic to ensure that her actions were silent.

She could feel him watching her for a while until eventually he drifted off to sleep.

She too could use a bath and a rest, but she doubted she would be getting that any time soon. She could only hope that her brother was being treated better than she was.

***

“Loki, it’s time to get up,” she said, gently shaking his shoulder.

He roused quickly and she could tell from the outline in his sheets, he was hard. She was exhausted and irritated and finally lost her cool with him. “I told you to call me master!” he yelled.

“But you are not my master, you are my equal.”

His eyes turned flinty and he slipped from under the covers. She backed up a step but no more.

“I own you, slave,” he said, his voice ice cold.

“No, you do not.”

“You are a spoil of war.”

“I am a goddess, and no matter what labels you put on me, you will never own me.”

He reached out and grabbed her by the back of her neck then pulled her towards the bed.

“You need a damn good spanking, then fucking until you remember your new status!”

Nerthus hadn’t expected him to use violence but she wasn’t as weak as she may seem. She quickly twisted out of his grip and they began exchanging blows. Loki’s magic didn’t work on her, nor hers on him since they could both block it, so that left them with only hand to hand combat to decide the winner, both using improvised weapons from around his room.

“Where did you learn to fight like this?” he demanded.

“Did you expect the goddess of peace to be defenceless?” she asked with glee. “I bring peace through any means necessary, including battle. Might is right, isn’t that what you Asgardians say?”

“Enough!” Loki suddenly cried, throwing down the broken shelf he had been using to fight her. “Fine, you do not have to call me master, but you will serve me, girl, or I will have Odin send you and your brother back to Vanaheim in disgrace, do you understand me?”

Girl? She was hardly five decades younger than him, she would bet good money on that.

She dropped the shards of broken vase that she had been using as knives and nodded her understanding.

“Now clean this mess up!” he said, stalking towards his closet.

It took a lot of her magic to repair the damage they had caused and given that she had not rested at all since the battle finally ended this morning, she was growing weary. She had just managed to wash and change into a clean robe, but that was the extent of her respite.

She needed food, drink and a good sleep, but she doubted she would be getting them any time soon.

She also needed to fuck, that always helped her energy levels, but she was damned if she would let someone as arrogant as Loki fuck her, no matter how handsome he may be.

Loki emerged ten minutes later, looking resplendent in his casual clothes. She was glad he didn’t have the horns as she found herself liking his ink black hair.

She quashed that thought quickly, telling herself it was probably just that his hair reminded her of her brother, although he was a good deal darker skinned that Loki was.

“We’re going to tonight’s banquet now,” he told her, fiddling with his cuff. “You will serve me, and only me, all evening and you will do so willingly and if anyone asks, you will tell that than you want to serve me. You will not leave my side other than to fulfil my orders, do you understand?”

“What about the rest of the repairs?”

“They will wait until later. Do you understand my orders?”

“Yes,” she replied, although she bristled at his haughty tone. Arrogant little bastard!

“Come.” He swept towards the doors and she didn’t even bother to ask about changing into a more formal gown, she was obviously attending as a servant, so Loki would only refuse her request. She hurried to catch him up.

***

The banquet hall was already alive with music and merriment when they arrived, and Loki’s attention was captured by Thor.

“Loki! Over here!”

They joined his brother, her brother, Thor’s warrior friends and a woman named Sif. Thor made the introductions for her and she sat next to Loki.

There was quite a crowd around them, basking in Thor’s glory and eating up his every word.

“How are you settling in?” Thor asked her.

“Very well,” she lied.

“Well if Loki gives you any trouble, just come and see me.”

His friends laughed but Nerthus didn’t like the comment.

Did he think she needed his protection? Did he not realise she had been on the battle field earlier today? And how disrespectful to say such a thing in front of his brother.

She bowed her head slightly in reply and Loki picked up a goblet and gestured for her to fill it from the jug on the table. She did so, earning an odd look from her brother. She shook her head, indicating for him to leave it alone, at least for now. She filled Loki’s goblet then he got a second one for her, but pulled it away when it was only half full.

His quiet way to tell her that she was here to serve, not enjoy.

Luckily Thor seemed to be trying to befriend Njord but as the conversation turned to the battle, she could see that her brother was having trouble keeping his mouth shut. What to Thor was a glorious victory, to them was the death or defeat of their countrymen, sometimes even a good friend.

Nerthus shook her head in warning as Njord became more enraged, especially when Thor began altering stories, so his own acts seemed more heroic. He had not at any point, fought off a hoard of fifty single handily. Five perhaps, with help.

“The jug is empty,” Loki said, as the blonde warrior, Fandral, finished it.

“Allow me,” Nerthus said, taking the jug from the blonde warrior.

“A servant will replenish it soon,” The fat one said.

“I don’t mind,” she assured him, getting up before anyone could argue any further.

She had no idea where to get more wine but she wasn’t an idiot. She asked a few people who seemed like servants, even if they too were enjoying the festivities, and soon was directed to table where barrels of ale and casks of wine were being dispensed. The servants here seemed the most merry of all, probably partaking of the refreshments they dispensed.

The noise levels were getting so loud that the music was almost drowned out now, and Nerthus could feel a headache coming on as she rejoined their table. She always got one when she hadn’t had a chance to replenish her energy, especially after using so much magic, and this atmosphere wasn’t helping.

Njord usually suffered the same ailments but he seemed fine, so clearly he had been given a chance to eat and rest.

“Aah, the food is here!” Thor’s fat friend exclaimed getting up and making his way over to the whole boar that was being carried into the room.

“Hungry?” the blonde one asked everyone.

“Let’s wait until the rush dies down,” Thor suggested.

Loki shot Nerthus a pointed look. She considered refusing but she had agreed to serve him and her word was her bond.

“Shall I get us some?”

“That would be lovely,” Loki told her, sounding most solicitous. If only this wasn’t an act, she might be starting to quite like him by now, his manners were a thousand times better than anyone else in this hall.

It was getting harder to fight her way through the crowd now but she managed, although her head was starting to pound.

She fought her way back to the table with two plates piled high with meat, bread and potatoes, and empty plates stacked below the heaped ones. Loki did not look pleased by her thoughtfulness for his friends, but he didn’t say anything until everyone was tucking in to the food and distracted.

“I said you were to serve only me tonight!” he hissed softly, leaning towards her.

“I didn’t see the harm in being nice.”

He scoffed and turned away.

“Cheer up, Loki,” Thor said. “It’s not as if you had no glory today! Why, you only needed a little help from me to defeat that hellion!”

Nerthus had actually seen that, and Loki had needed no help from Thor. In fact, Thor had only got in the way of Loki’s magic blasts and Loki had to shove him away to fell the warrior.

She began to listen then as more tales of heroics were told and noticed that consistently, Thor left his brother out or played down his role in events that she knew Loki had won, or helped to win.

Was this his life here, being over shadowed by Thor’s lies and bragging? First earlier Thor was chosen to have first choice of her and Njord, now Loki was being written out of events.

She was starting to understand the reasons for Loki’s anger. Although she was on the opposing side, she was skilled enough to recognise that Loki had fought valiantly today, at least as well as Thor, from what’s she had seen, and had saved the lives of many Asgardian warriors.

“He was a beast!” the fat one was saying. “If Thor had not come along them, I would have been killed for certain!”

Nerthus had heard enough. “I could have sworn I saw Loki saving you from Bear,” she said innocently. “He sent daggers flying at him, which infuriated Bear, who turned to attack Loki, giving Thor the chance to pull you away.”

“Yes well,” Thor grinned, “Some do battle, others just do tricks.”

Everyone erupted into laughter and Nerthus felt awful. “Truth is still truth,” she said defiantly to Thor. “And Loki still defeated him, even with a spear in his side.”

The crowd around the table didn’t seem to know how to react.

“Yes, well, you fought well today, Brother,” Thor said. “Just not as well as me.”

The crowd cheered for Thor, and Nerthus wondered why they didn’t cheer for Loki.

She had seen enough of the false celebrations though, and picked up the wine jug. “Nearly gone, I’ll get a refill.”

No one tried to stop her this time.

She was about half way across the great hall when someone grabbed her arm.

“Why did you say that?” Loki hissed, seemingly angry at her.

“Because it was true,” she argued, yanking her arm out of his grip. He must have let her go because she knew she was no ~~t~~ longer strong enough to fight him off right now. “I have been on that battlefield for the past two weeks and seen many of the events Thor spoke of. He wouldn’t know the truth if it bit in him the behind!”

When Loki didn’t reply, she turned away and continued towards the table where the casks of wine were being dispensed, but she had to rest against a wall as the pounding behind her eyes threatened to blind her.

The next thing she knew, someone had pressed her up against that wall and was grinding his penis against her arse. She fought back but she was weak and her headache made it difficult to be coordinated. His hands had managed to sneak around to the front of her gown and he was groping her breasts, attempting to loosen her dress, when suddenly she was pulled back by the force of him being yanked off her.

She turned to see Loki standing over a drunk reveller.

“She is mine!” he hissed. “Do you hear me? She is the only thing in this entire castle that is mine and mine alone, and I will not let anyone, especially filthy little vermin like you, mistreat her! Understood?”

The man, whoever he was, nodded passionately. With a wave of Loki’s hand, his clothes turned into snakes, and her attacker ran screaming, and naked, from the hall.

When Loki stood up, he looked her over, then bent to retrieve the jug she must have dropped.

“Why didn’t you fight him off?”

“I’ve been fighting for two weeks, I’m tired.”

“You could have used magic?”

“I’ve used far more magic than usual recently, especially today, and I haven’t eaten since early this morning.” She raised her hand to her forehead and pressed, hoping to ease some of the pounding.

“You’re in pain?”

“Headache. Always happens when I get weak. The noise in here isn’t helping.”

Loki surprised her then, stepping forward and placing his hands either side of her head. She felt an ice cold stabbing in her forehead for a split second but when that pain vanished, so did her headache.

She looked at him, evidently shocked. “Thank you.”

Loki didn’t acknowledge her words but handed the jug off to a passing server, then conjured a full one.

She wondered why he hadn’t simply done that before, then realised that since he was teased for doing magic, he probably didn’t do it often around Thor and his friends.

“Come.” He put an arm around her shoulders and the crowd seemed to part before them, not out of deference, but from some kind of magical shield that was Loki was using to push people out of the way.

Once back at the table, Loki sat down, then pulled Nerthus onto his lap. She considered trying to move but he had been nice to her and besides, everyone at the table, even her brother, had a woman on one knee. The blonde warrior had two, one on each.

“You haven’t eaten anything,” Loki said, conjuring a plate of food, and she smiled as she wondered which poor reveller had been tucking into this plate, only for it to disappear as he went to take more. “Here,” he handed her the plate, then topped up her goblet for the first time since they arrived. He held it to her lips since she had a slice of wild boar in one hand and the plate in the other.

She drank deeply and when she had finished the glass, Loki topped it up again while she ate.

Almost instantly she could feel her energy start to return and within four hours, she knew she would be back to full strength.

She began offering Loki some of her food, hand feeding him, and he accepted, without question or comment. His expression was much softer now, but still not exactly tender.

Once her food was finished she sat there, his hands looped around her waist, holding her against him as he listened to more of Thor’s lies and mistruths.

Suddenly she wondered if she might not have got the better brother. Thor might not have tried to attack her, but she seriously doubted that he would have noticed her distress, he was too self-involved for that.

Then again, she wouldn’t have been distressed if she had been treated as well as her brother evidently had been.

The weeks ahead were probably going to be difficult for her adjusting to her new life on Asgard, but she was quickly getting a picture of these people, which would help her assimilate.

Her brother was still giving her odd looks, even more so now that she was in Loki’s lap, but her eyes told him to hold his tongue until they were alone.

Perhaps by then, she might even understand what was happening.

***

They had left the gathering as soon as it was acceptable to do so and Loki had sent her straight to her bed, but despite her lethargy, she was unable to sleep.

Loki seemed to have invaded her thoughts, and was refusing to leave.

Part of what made her a good peacemaker, was her ability to see and understand grievances. She now understood why Loki was so angry, and she could guess the role that his parents had played in making the present situation acceptable.

Then there was Loki’s words to the man who had pawed at her. _‘She is mine!’ ‘I will not let anyone mistreat her!’ ‘She is mine!’ ‘She is the only thing in this entire castle that is mine and mine alone’_

_‘She is mine!’_

_‘She is mine!’_

_‘She is mine!’_

He had no one, she realised. His friends were, first and foremost, Thor’s friends, his parents clearly favoured Thor, or at least did nothing to stop his behaviour, and even the common people would laugh along to a lie to get into Thor’s good graces.

Sibling rivalry.

It was a tale as old as time, but in 900 years, she had never seen an example quite this bad.

Finally she fell into an exhausted sleep and in her dreams, the solution came to her.


	2. Chapter 2

# Chapter Two

Mira had spent her whole day and most of the evening checking and approving visa applications that for some ‘unknown’ reason, were backlogged. In reality, her supervisor, who also hated their boss, had held them back because making Mira’s life hell, made him feel a little better about his shitty life.

She entered her tiny apartment and although she knew she should make some dinner, the most she had the energy for was toast, of which she only managed one slice before her eyes started to droop. She had a feeling that she wouldn’t have to worry about the noise from the bar below keeping her awake tonight.

The man of her dreams awaited her and right now, he was the only thing keeping her going. In fact, she was seriously tempted to try sleeping pills for the first time in her life, just to see if she could sleep a little longer on the weekends.

That seemed a little desperate though.

She had put in for a transfer back to London, where she could take a year or so to regroup, regain her confidence, then start climbing the ladder again, but it would take weeks before she knew if she was successful and honestly, she was so overqualified for the position that she would likely be rejected.

With her fingers firmly crossed, she climbed into bed and closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips for the first time today.

***

Nerthus was late arising in the morning and when she ventured through into Loki’s rooms, he was already eating breakfast. His belongings had all been put away now and the damage they had caused last night had all been fixed or cleaned up.

Loki gestured to the chair opposite him for her to sit but instead, she went to his side of the table and got down on one knee.

“I’m sorry about yesterday, Master. I should not have argued with you and I apologise.”

“What is this?” Loki asked, scooting his chair away from her, as if this might be some kind of trap.

“I was wrong yesterday,” she explained, looking up into his eyes. “I do belong to you.”

“You said it was impossible for me to own you!”

“It is, Master, no one can claim anyone else. I can however, give myself to you. I trust you to value my loyalty.”

“Lies. This is some kind of trick, isn’t it?”

“No, Loki,” she looked up and met his gaze, dropping her deferential attitude slightly for a moment. “I’m kneeling here because I want to. Because the man I saw last night, the one I think hides behind your scowl, the man who protected me and took care of me, I think he is someone worth belonging to, and he deserves to own me.”

“And when you say ‘belong’?”

“I mean that I am yours. I will do as you say; clean your rooms, call you Master, wait on you, wash your back and fuck you as and when required. I give myself to you wholly and completely, the boundaries are up to you to set, Master.”

“You’ll do anything I say?” he didn’t sound convinced.

“Anything.”

He considered me for a few long moments, then said. “You were terribly rude yesterday. You may have changed your mind but you still need to be punished.”

“As you wish, Master.”

“Go to my bed, pull your skirts up, underwear down, then bend over and wait for me.”

She got up off the floor and did as he said, bending over the end of the bed so that she was exposed to him. He had mentioned something about a spanking yesterday, so she wasn’t that surprised. If he needed her to prove her loyalty to him, she would do so.

She knew she could trust him not to damage her however, because last night she had essentially told him how to keep her weak and powerless. He could have denied her adequate food and drink, he had no reason to allow her to sleep late this morning, other than kindness, and he had no reason he heal her headache last night. The fact was that as his possession, he would care for her, even if he didn’t care about her.

He had wealth, some power, magic and probably every material possession that any man could ever want.

She knew that the one thing he _didn’t_ have, was someone who was wholly his. Even those below his station preferred his brother, and any friends he had were likely just trying to get closer to Thor. His parents too; and she knew that any even slightly decent parents would not ignore one child at the expense of the other.

Nerthus would do whatever it took to prove that she was his and his alone.

She was slightly surprised to find that waiting like this, in this rather humiliating pose, and anticipating what might come next, was actually turning her on. She could feel her sex growing moist as the minutes ticked by.

‘ _Is he looking?_ ’ she wondered. ‘ _Does he like what he sees?_ ’

She’d had a fair amount of sex in her nearly nine centuries and she’d developed a taste for slightly risky, public sex, but she’d never tried never anything like this before.

It was going to hurt if he spanked her. Worse if he whipped her. She would bear it. She was a Goddess and fairly unbreakable, after all; so what was a little pain?

Would Loki be a considerate lover? It was hard to be bad at it when you lived for centuries, but that didn’t mean that he had to care about her pleasure. She’d slept with men like Thor before, and they were selfish lovers. Loki had his share of arrogance, but she hoped that giving pleasure might be a point of pride with him; some arrogant men revelled in their ability to give pleasure, after all.

The scrape of his chair ended her train of thought and her breath hitched in anticipation. She heard his footsteps coming closer, stopping just behind her.

She held her breath, wondering what was going to happen next.

His hand landed on her ass and she flinched, but he hadn’t hit her. Instead, he was caressing her.

“Does the idea of belonging to me excite you?” he asked.

“No,” she admitted, deciding that honesty was the best policy. “I believe you will take care of me, but what excites me is the position you told me to assume, and the anticipation.”

His long fingers dipped into her folds and her lips easily parted.

“So wet,” he purred, finding her clitoris and softly rubbing it just hard enough to tease, but nowhere near hard enough to bring relief. “What exactly excites you, Little Dove; the humiliating position? Being submissive? The idea of being spanked?”

“All, to a degree.”

“Tell me, exactly, what you like about this.”

“Yes, Master.” She took a moment to order her thoughts. “The position is exciting, the thought that anyone might enter and see me here, exposed for your pleasure; I like that idea.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. The risk? The possibility of feeling humiliated?”

“What else?”

“Being submissive and being spanked do not excite me, but handing control to you, not knowing what might happen, does.”

“You have never been spanked then?” he asked.

“No, Master.”

He applied a little more pressure to her clitoris and leaned over her until his lips brushed her ear.

“Oh, Little Dove, you don’t know what you’ve been missing. Luckily, I am willing to teach you but you should be aware, I am not a patient teacher.”

“Yes, Master. Thank you.”

“You know that I must punish you for your misbehaviour yesterday, don’t you?”

“Yes, Master.”

“It’s not that I want to, but it’s for your own good.”

Well that was a load of horse shit, she thought, but she didn’t say it.

“Well no, that’s a lie,” Loki admitted. “I do want spank you; I’ve wanted nothing more since I first spied you on the battlefield. I want to turn your ass red so that every time you sit down, you will remember to whom you belong, but you will enjoy it too, Dove, I promise.”

“Yes, Master,” she replied, although she highly doubted that.

“Do not use your magic to heal yourself.”

“I won’t, Master.”

He rubbed her clitoris hard enough to make her cry out softly, then he withdrew his fingers and quickly spanked her. The pleasure he had given her a moment before dulled the pain somewhat, but there was no pleasure in it. It stung, although it could have been much worse.

He moved to stand beside her, she guessed for easier access. There was no pleasure before the next spank, but it was no harder than the first. He alternated cheeks, and after five to each, she could feel her ass warming up.

How he could call this pleasurable though, she had no clue.

The next spanks were harder, each increasing in severity until his seventeenth and eighteenth caused her to cry out. He paused then and Nerthus realised that the skin on her bottom was tingling, and that sensation, along with the warmth, was spreading to her sex.

The next spanks were harder still and it was as if the recoil from each one was travelling directly to her sex. The two after that actually made her clitoris throb!

He stopped then, his fingers finding her folds once more, and he slipped two fingers into her cunt.

“You’re positively dripping now,” he told her. “You must be such a depraved slut, to gain pleasure in chastisement. Still, it is a good thing, because your sheath is rather tight and I fear I would hurt you if not.”

She mentally scoffed at his words, all men thought their cocks were the biggest and best thing since sex had been invented. Very few were actually correct in that assertion.

“Tell me what you want.” Loki ordered.

“I don’t understand.”

“Do you want me to carry on spanking you before I fuck you, building you to the best climax you have ever experienced, or do you want me to just fuck you, sating your appetite for a while? I may not often give you a choice, so choose wisely.”

The spanking actually wasn’t bad now, in fact it was rather pleasurable despite the pain, but would it start to hurt again if he carried on?

She did want to be fucked, hard, but the idea of seeing if he could live up to his word, if he really could deliver the best orgasm of her life, was tempting. And at the end of the day, she was no coward.

“I would like you to carry on, Master,” she decided.

“Wise choice,” he purred, pinching her clitoris so that, despite the pain, she nearly came from that alone.

He didn’t let her come though, instead he continued spanking her until she lost count. At some point, he slipped one hand around her thighs and softly caressed her clit and her folds from the front, while he continued to spank her, and while the spanking didn’t get any more pleasurable, it didn’t get any less so either. What it did do, along with his digital stimulation, was increase her frustration until she thought she might burst from need.

“Please,” she eventually whimpered.

“Please what?” he asked, not letting up on her abused ass or her over sensitive clitoris.

“Please, fuck me, let me come, please! I don’t know how much more I can take.”

“You’ll have to ask me very nicely,” he insisted.

“Please, Master, please fuck me, please give me your cock, please make me cum, I beg you!”

Two more spanks and he was evidently done.

“Stand up,” he ordered, and she did. Loki used magic to bind her hands to the top bar of his four poster bed, then he splayed her legs so wide that she was stretched taut, utterly defenceless, and begging for release. He stood behind her and rubbed his length along the crack of her ass for a moment, then he positioned himself so his length ran along her slit, the head rubbing her clit with each thrust. His skin was cool on her fevered ass, which felt wonderful.

“Please,” she whimpered. “Please.”

“Patience, Little Dove.” He whispered in her ear, reaching around her to play with her breasts, pinching her nipples.

Nerthus was so desperate to come that she was beginning to feel shaky when finally, blessedly, Loki slid into her cunt.

She gasped, realising that he hadn’t been lying; he really was huge, and she felt stretched almost to the point of pain.

“Yes!” she breathed.

Loki gave her only a few seconds to adjust to his invasion, then he began to fuck her in earnest, leaving one hand to play with her breasts, and one teasing her clit.

He quickly stimulated her to an orgasm, and she clenched his cock so hard that he almost came, but he was able to hold his own orgasm off and continue fucking her.

Just as she rode the crest of her orgasm to its end, he roughly rubbed her clitoris again, prolonging her pleasure, then again when it began to fade, he pinched her sensitive clit.

Now she was gasping with each new orgasm and writhing so hard that despite her bonds, he was in danger of slipping out of her. Rather than stop or reposition her, he compensated by making his thrusts shallower and he continued to tease orgasm after orgasm from her. By the time he could no longer hold his own finish back, he was spanking her clitoris and Nerthus was screaming in painful pleasure.

Finally he spilled his seed into her and as the bonds he had secured her with melted away, he grabbed her around the waist, knowing she would be unable to support her own weight.

She tried to talk but it was incomprehensible. So he carried her to his bed and slid in behind her, spooning her and stroking her pale, soft skin. His skin was still pleasantly cool against her ass and every now and again, she continued to twitch with post orgasmic pleasure.

Surprisingly, since it was still before noon, Loki found himself growing weary and as he was about to fall asleep, he tightened his grip on her. “Mine,” he whispered.

“Yours,” she agreed.

***

When Nerthus awoke, she and Loki made love and while nice, it didn’t have the same thrill as their earlier encounter. After a bath, Loki insisted that she eat the breakfast that she hadn’t had an opportunity to eat earlier; although he had already eaten, he sat with her.

“Perhaps we should discuss your requirements,” Nerthus suggested.

“In what respect?” he asked.

“What my duties will be, when and in what ways I am to serve you, how I should address you, rules, that kind of thing.”

Loki considered her for a moment and she felt uncomfortable under his gaze.

“Do I have your loyalty?” he asked.

“Of course,” she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised he had asked again. “Neither Njord or I have broken our word in over 700 years, it goes completely against what we were raised to believe.”

"So in tournaments, you will support me over Thor?”

She nodded.

“And you will take no other lovers?”

She shook her head.

“Then I have no duties for you, or further requirements of you.”

“But last night­-”

“Last night I was angry and I needed to assert my control over someone. You happened to be closest, for which I now apologise. It was exceptionally ungentlemanly of me.”

She was surprised by how reasonable he was being.

“The truth, Little Dove, is that I already have servants to take care of my rooms, food and wardrobe, I have no need of another one.”

“And calling you Master?”

He smirked. “I would like you to call me that in private, Dove, but I will not degrade you in public by insisting you call me that.”

“And…” she looked down at the plate of fruit she was picking from. “Will, um, will you take any other lovers?”

“Yes.”

That hurt more than she had expected, and not just because of the double standard.

“This upsets you?” he asked.

She gathered her shields around her and looked up. “I have never been in such a relationship before, but I am sure I will adjust. I will try not to be… inappropriate when you have… guests.”

Loki smiled and Nerthus bristled at his good humour. She bit her tongue however; she had offered to serve him, so she couldn’t back out now.

“Do you know my monikers, Little Dove?”

“You are known as the God of Mischief and the God of Chaos.”

“I’m also known as the God of Lies.”

She looked up, not having heard that title before, and he smiled at her.

“Providing my needs are satisfied, I see no reason to visit with any other, less devoted women.”

“But­-”

“I wanted to test the depth of your loyalty. I have not had an exclusive relationship for many centuries, I usually prefer unconditional encounters.”

“Why?” she asked.

“That is a long and complicated answer, Dove, but suffice to say, if you are as loyal as you claim, I see no reason to go elsewhere.”

She relaxed and smiled at him. “Why do you call me Dove or Little Dove?” she asked.

“You’ve been to Midgard, no?”

She nodded.

“For some of their religions, a white dove is the symbol of peace. Given that you are the Goddess of Peace and have white hair, it seemed like a fitting term of endearment. Do you not like it?”

“No, I do,” she smiled. “I’ve just never been given a pet name before.”

“Not even by your parents?”

“I never met them. Njord and I were left at the palace temple when we were two days old.”

“So you don’t know who you are or where you come from?”

“A seer told us we were a gift from the Gods and that we would help to bring about peace in the realms, but more than that I can’t say.”

“Do you believe you came from the Gods?”

“I know I was born, and I was likely born to a God and Goddess, but why they chose not to raise us…” she shrugged. “I can only assume that they knew of our destiny, and leaving us was the best way we could fulfil it.”

“That seems… incredibly callous.”

“Gods are callous, Loki, especially those who rule. I don’t know if they mean to be, or if it’s inevitable, but they carefully and precisely forged Njord and I into weapons.”

“Yet your people surrendered and handed you over to us.”

She smiled. “First of all, wars are not won with battles alone; indeed there are many ways to wage and win wars. We were taught many things as well as fighting, such as how to read people. That knowledge can allow us to negotiate a peace, or use psychological warfare and damage our opponents emotionally. Secondly, we exchanged people. Njord and I for two of yours, Hoenir and Mimir. Finally, my people did not ‘give’ us to you, we volunteered, to end the fighting.”

“You left your world, your home, of your own free will?” She nodded and Loki’s expression turned stony.

“Why? Is your plan here to wage this psychological warfare against Asgard?”

“If it were, would I tell you our plan?” she smiled. “But no, we came here to try to bridge the gap between our peoples. Queen Frigga did an excellent job, but the peace that her marriage brought has only lasted two thousand years. Njord and I hoped to become advisers to Odin­”

“So you could scupper his plans?”

“No, we knew we would only be two of many voices, so our only intent was that Vanaheim’s voice could be heard. We have no secret motive to being here and Njord and I would never try to bring about war, we only want to bring about peace.”

“So why did you give yourself to me?”

“Because you have no one, and you need someone of your own. Perhaps the way Njord and I will bring about a lasting peace isn’t through Odin, but rather his sons.”

“So you plan to manipulate me?”

“I plan only to serve you, Loki, although I hope you will come to value my opinion in time.” She could see that he still didn’t understand. “One thing I know, is that happy people do not wage war. They will defend their people, to the death if necessary, but no one who is content ever seeks out war. War is sought by the weak who wish to appear strong; by those who need outside validation and seek glory; and by those who seek revenge. It is my hope that if I can make you happy, you will not become a warmonger, like your father.”

“My father is not a warmonger! A wise king never seeks out war.”

“Perhaps you are right, but he has waged two wars against our people in his lifetime, so I hope you will forgive my… skewed perspective.”

Loki frowned.

“Can we not learn from each other, Loki? You teach me the history of my new home, and I will teach you about Vanaheim.”

“What do I need to learn of your realm that I do not already know?”

“Magic, for one. Your mother is talented, no doubt, but she is years out of date. On my world, magic is lauded above all else, and those with an aptitude for it are revered. I can teach you what I have learned, if you would like.”

“Revered, you say?”

“Yes, Loki. The Vanir value magic, we do not dismiss it as mere tricks.”

“What can you teach me, then?” he demanded.

“Oh,” she smiled. “So much, my prince.”


	3. Chapter 3

# Chapter Three

“You know, Mira, if you would come for drinks one evening, I’m sure we could get you out of this little cubicle.” Her boss was currently running his hand up and down her arm and when he got no resistance, over her shoulder, then down her back until finally, he rubbed her arse.

Mira didn’t react, she didn’t even feel the pervert’s touch.

“Loki,” she whispered, stepping closer to the television.

The footage was poor, shot over a distance and in a war torn New York, but she would know Loki anywhere. She hadn’t seen any footage, but now she realised that it must have been Loki in Germany too. He had been only a two hour flight away from her, and she hadn’t known.

He was literally the man of her dreams, except he was real. And he was here.

Her skirt was being inched up now as her boss tried to better feel her up. She might as well have been carved from marble for all she felt.

How was he here? And if he was real, were her dreams real too? And if they were, why the hell was she a human on Earth, and not a Vanir. And she knew she was human, she had suffered too many paper cuts in her life to be a God.

Her boss pressed on her shoulders and she bent forward, resting her hands on the table in front of the television, she didn’t object because it put her face closer to the screen.

“Loki, what are you doing?” she asked softly. Next she saw Thor and another gasp escaped her; he was exactly like in her dreams too!

What the fuck was going on today? Was her life a lie? If so, which one? This one on earth, or the one she dreamed about each night?

Her boss had worked his hand into her panties now and as his pudgy fingers separated her folds, she came back to herself.

“That’s his!” she cried, turning around and in three blows, she sent her boss to the floor with a bloody nose. “How dare you touch what belongs to Prince Loki!”

“Why you teasing little bitch! How dare you­” as he flailed around for a handkerchief, the ambassador no longer seemed so scary.

“How dare you!” she yelled back. “You are a worse than pond scum and I am going to tell everyone who will listen what a harassing, sexist, small dicked wanker you are!”

“You’re fired!”

“I quit.” With one last kick to his groin, she stormed out of the office, pushing past the crowd that had gathered in the doorway to watch.

“Call the police! Someone call me an ambulance.”

Mira walked out of the Embassy and hailed a cab to her apartment, needing her passport. She didn’t bother to pack anything, but as she flew to America she had nothing but time on her hands: time to contemplate this new reality.

Loki was real, Thor was real, and despite never having taken a self­-defence course in her life, she had just felled a man who was a foot taller than her, in three moves.

There was only one conclusion. Her life was a lie. Mira was a lie. She was Nerthus. She was Little Dove. She was Loki’s lover.

Loki was attacking Earth and killing innocent people.

‘ _Oh Loki, what happened to you?_ ’ she wondered.

***

“Can you move from one location to another using magic?” Nerthus asked. She was trying to determine the limits of Loki’s magic.

“No.”

“Can you create copies of yourself?”

“No.”

“Then we’ll start with those.”

“You can create a copy of yourself?”

“Oh yes.” From behind Loki, her clone appeared and knelt down beside Loki’s chair.

“Master,” the clone said.

Hesitantly, Loki reached out and touched the clone.

“It feels real, appearing to be flesh and blood.”

“She is, just like I am. I can also create illusions of myself, which are easier and sometimes in battle, a dozen illusionary warriors are enough to frighten off one real one.”

Suddenly the clone at his side disappeared and with a flash of light, ten or more copies of Nerthus appeared in the room.

“They look real but they are not, and if you touch them, they will disappear,” she explained.

One of the illusions held a hand out towards Loki, who passed his fingers through it, making it fade into nothing.

“Amazing,” Loki breathed. “And teleportation?”

“Is an extension of this.” The illusions faded and another clone appeared by the door. “I have already created a fully working body,” she explained. “Now all I have to do is transfer my consciousness into her, and allow this body to dissipate.”

She moved her mind over to the copy, then her original body faded away.

“See?” she smiled.

Loki looked genuinely fascinated as Nerthus came back to sit at the table.

“Start by picturing yourself splitting in half, picture one half of you separating completely from the other, then moving away.”

It took Loki most of the morning, but he was finally able to create a clone. Over the next week he learned how to transfer his consciousness to it, how to make his original body fade away to nothing, and how to make astral projections of himself.

“You’re exceptionally proficient,” she told him as they cuddled after one session.

For some reason, their training sessions always ended with sex; although it had never been like the first time she had given herself to him.

“If you keep this up, your powers will soon outstrip mine,” she smiled.

“Flatterer,” he said, dismissing her praise.

“No, I mean it,” she raised her head off his shoulder. “I’ve never encountered an Aesir with such powers before, you are truly unique, Loki.”

A small, prideful smile played at the corner of his lips and he raised his head to kiss her.

Their tryst was soon interrupted by Loki’s door bursting open.

“Loki!”

Loki rolled his eyes and gave Nerthus an apologetic look.

“My apologies, Little Dove, my brother has not yet mastered the art of knocking.” He made sure she was covered, then turned to see Thor watching them, a gleeful smile on his brother's lips.

“So this is why you shun training,” Thor laughed. “It looks like I chose the wrong twin. Should my brother ever prove not to be up to the task of satisfying you, feel free to pay me a visit.” Thor winked at her.

Beside her, she could feel Loki fuming.

“I’m afraid my affections are not so fickle, your highness. I am Loki’s, now and forever more.”

Thor laughed harder. “I’m proud of you brother; however your absence from the training grounds had been noticed.”

“I have been training,” Loki assured him.

One of his clones tapped Thor on the shoulder and when Thor turned, the clone grinned at him. “See.”

Thor looked from one Loki to the other.

“Magic,” he scoffed, turning back to the bed and shaking his head, as if disappointed. “You need to train for battle, Brother, not these parlour tricks!”

Loki left the bed, and as he summoned his armour onto his nude form, the clone used the distraction to punch Thor, quickly moving out of the way with the same fluidity with which Loki fought. While Thor was searching for the clone, Loki got a good blow in, then transferred his consciousness to the clone and allowed his first body to disappear, so Thor punched nothing but air.

“That hardly seems like a parlour trick,” Loki said snidely. “I landed two punches and you have landed precisely how many, Brother?”

Thor roared and swung for Loki again, but he teleported behind Thor and summoned two additional clones to help him fight. Each time Thor made to hit one, Loki made it dissipate, always keeping his mind in one of the clones at which Thor wasn’t aiming. After five minutes, during which Thor had not landed a single punch on Loki, he gave a roar and summoned Mjolnir.

Nerthus watched in horror as Thor had a temper tantrum at his lack of ability to beat Loki. The damage he had already done to their room was bad enough, but when he summoned Mjolnir, he summoned lightening and electrified the whole room, including her.

She screamed as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through her body.

“What is going on here!” she heard the Queen demand.

Nerthus fell back to the bed, badly burned and severely hurt.

“Loki,” she managed to croak, worried that he hadn’t managed to escape.

“What have you done!” Frigga cried, rushing to her side.

“Little Dove!” Loki called and Nerthus felt relief that somehow, he had escaped the lightning. She should have been on her guard but she hadn’t expected a future king to throw a tantrum like a child and risk hurting innocent bystanders.

“Loki, what happened?” She heard Frigga ask. They were both with her now, one on either side.

“I was showing Thor some of the magic Little Dove had taught me and he didn’t take kindly to it. When he couldn’t best me, he filled the room with lightning. We have to get her to the healing rooms.”

“Hurry,” Frigga urged, and she felt herself being lifted into Loki’s arms.

“What were you thinking!” she heard Frigga demand as she was carried out.

“It was Loki’s doing, Mother, he sought to fight me and I only gave him what he wanted.”

“You nearly killed our peace offering! If she dies, this could reignite the war!” Their voices drifted off as her consciousness faded, taking her pain with it.

***

Nerthus awoke on a treatment bed in the infirmary. Her head was pounding and her limbs felt leaden, but she remembered exactly what had brought her here.

She opened her eyes but groaned when the brightness proved too much.

“Little Dove?”

“Loki?”

“I’m here.”

She again tried to open her eyes but it took quite a few tries until she could gaze upon him. Once she could see him, she tried to offer a comforting smile and raised her hand to cup his cheek.

“I’m sorry,” he said, placing his hand over hers.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“I should have predicted that he wouldn’t take kindly to losing, but it never occurred to me that he might hurt you. I should have been more careful.”

“What’s the prognosis?”

“You will recover fully in a few days,” he assured her. “You were badly burned but they have managed to repair the damage that the lightning did.”

“I won’t be scarred?”

“No, darling. Although your hair seems even whiter than before.”

She closed her eyes, still feeling exceptionally tired.

Loki gathered her into his arms. “Come, now you are awake, I can return you to our quarters. I’m sure you’ll sleep better in a proper bed.”

She mumbled something that sounded like an agreement, and snuggled into his chest.

***

Eir came to check on her regularly and it took her another three days before she was strong enough to venture out of Loki’s room.

Loki took exceptional care of her, helping her bathe and making sure that she ate, even when she didn’t feel like it. He even carried her around for the first day and a half, worried that she might get bored lying in bed all day. He invited Njord to come and visit whenever he wanted and when she was too tired to play chess or talk, Loki read to her.

On the third day, although she tired very quickly, she insisted on leaving their room, needing to see other people.

Thor must really have given her full blast with Mjolnir. It was bad enough to think that he had hurt her by accident but the idea that he had intended to do this to his brother didn’t sit well with her at all.

He was a vain, arrogant and cruel boy, she thought.

Her opinion was cemented when she shared a meal with Thor and his friends in the dining hall.

His apology was cursory and not at all sincere, he didn’t even wait for her reply after saying sorry. Instead he made a crude joke about having done Loki a favour, since she had been on bed rest for the last few days.

He and his friends then proceeded to tease Loki mercilessly about his new magical abilities and even more worryingly, her brother, Njord, seemed to have become a subject of ridicule to Thor and his friends too.

“How are you feeling after your brush with death?” Njord asked rather pointedly as she sat down at their table.

“I’ve been better,” she admitted. Her limbs still trembled at times but the healers assured her that that would pass in a week or two.

“I didn’t know the Vanir were so soft,” Thor joked.

“I didn’t know crown princes were so reckless,” she answered back with a glare.

She immediately saw Njord stiffen and in that moment, she knew that he would pay for her remark, which made her feel awful. She held her tongue after that, and accepted all the jibes that Thor and his friend’s aimed her way.

Only Fandral and Hogun didn’t participate in the bullying, but neither did they do anything to stop it.

She wasn’t strong enough to try magic yet, but she noticed Loki using his powers to cause a few slips and spills, which made her smile.

At the end of a week, it became clear that this new status quo wasn’t going to change, and Nerthus felt like either screaming or crying. How had she had her brother been reduced to objects of ridicule?

On Vanaheim, the two Asgardian emissaries had been given positions of power and responsibility, they hadn’t become playthings for the royal family to taunt and bully.

Part of her was sorely tempted to tell her people how poorly they were being treated by some here, but she knew that might reignite tensions and her people were not well placed to fight a war any longer, they had suffered too many losses already.

“I’m sorry about Thor,” Loki said after dinner one evening, once they were alone in their rooms.

“No you’re not!” she argued. Loki looked surprised by her words, and Nerthus was so frustrated that she picked up a vase and smashed it.

“Little Dove?” his tone was more confused than reproachful. She smashed another trinket and he grabbed her arms.

“What’s gotten into you?” he asked.

She didn’t know, but she fought to get out of his grip and using her magic, she teleported away, smashing something else.

“I don’t want to hurt you but I will stop you if I have to,” Loki warned.

“Yes!” she said meeting his eye as realisation set in.

“Pardon?”

“Punish me.”

“Little Dove, you’re overwrought and I can't blame you.”

“No, Loki,” she stepped closer, trying to find the words to make him understand. “I need it.”

“You need me to hurt you? But you’re still recovering.”

“I trust you,” she assured him. “I can't explain how I know or why I need it, but I need that… release. I… I need to let go, to relinquish control, to be free.”

Loki considered her for a moment. “Do you need to be punished, or simply subjugated?”

“I… I don’t know,” she admitted.

Loki considered her for a moment longer then with a wave of his hand, her clothes disappeared.

“Get on your knees, put your head to the floor, your arms out in front of you, crossed at the wrist.”

“Yes, Master.” She eagerly knelt down on the cold stone floor.

“Spread your knees wider,” he ordered. “I want to be able to see what a whore you are.”

She did as instructed, excitement coursing through her whole body, making her tingle.

As she waited there, with her forehead pressed against the stone and her arms further restricting her vision, she couldn’t see much but could hear Loki moving around and wondered what he was doing.

The waiting was good though, the anticipation building until she wondered if a strong breeze might be enough to make her come.

Suddenly Loki was back and down on one knee before her.

“Up,” he said, lifting her with an arm under her chest. “Drink,” he commanded, handing her a goblet filled with some kind of potion.

“What is it?”

“Do not question me! Drink!”

She remembered why she wanted this, to give herself to him, trusting him completely.

“I’m sorry, Master.” She downed the contents of the goblet in three mouthfuls.

“Good girl,” he purred, reaching out and cupping her face, his thumb tracing back and forth over her cheekbone. “The potion allows me to feel your emotions for a few hours, so I may better subjugate you. Now go to the bed and assume the same position.”

He helped her to her feet and after a moment to steady herself, she did as Loki asked, remembering to spread her knees lewdly.

Loki put the goblet away and approached her, “Such a good girl,” he told her, his hand caressing her butt and dipping into her sheath. “And so wet! You really are a perfect slave, Little Dove.” His voice was rich and warm, filling her with pleasure that she had pleased him. “But I still have to punish you for breaking my belongings.”

The hard edge to his voice sent a frisson of pleasure rippling through her body.

He continued to play with her slit and clit.

“In light of your recent injury, I cannot be too hard on you physically,” he told her and for a second, she felt disappointed. “However, I can be very creative when it comes to punishments. Now, you broke three things, so I believe that you should go three days without release. I will use you for my own pleasure, of course, but you shall have none and if you come, if you even touch yourself without my permission, I shall make it a week, then a month, then six months. It does not do to disobey me, darling.”

He continued to tease her, bringing her right to the edge of release but never allowing her to fall over it. After half an hour, she began to beg. After an hour he gagged her, then finally, he entered her but he did so slowly, not creating nearly enough friction to allow her a release. With painstaking, agonisingly unhurried and deliberate pace, he fucked her.

Although she didn’t get her release, it felt nice to be filled with him, to be one with him, and to know that she was pleasing him.

He pulled out just before he came.

“Finish me with your mouth,” he ordered, a wave if his hand making her gag vanish.

She turned around on the bed, her muscles protecting slightly after being still for so long, but she eagerly took him into her mouth, sucking his seed from him.

“Good girl,” he praised, stroking her hair.

“Please, my prince, may I come?”

His pleasant demeanour changed in an instant. “No! And if you ask again, I will increase your denial to a week, understood?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Good Dove. Now, draw us a bath.”

She did as he bid without question and after she had washed him, he did the same for her, only once again he kept bringing her close to release, then denying her.

When they got out, she thought that she couldn’t possibly be more frustrated. How wrong she was. As they lay in bed, Loki gave her a book to read to him and while she did so, he spread her legs and played with her, lightly spanking her cunt when her words hitched due to her arousal, which was frequently thanks to his teasing.

When he finally suggested they sleep, Nerthus was exhausted and despite her sexual frustration, she curled into Loki’s side and for the first time since her injury, she slept like a baby.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

By the time she reached New York, Mira was too late; both Loki and Thor had left this realm.

Despite never having met Loki, she felt heartbroken that she was not quick enough.

With her tail between her legs, and more confused than ever, she returned to her home in London to ponder her future.

She did report her boss for sexual harassment and once she came forward, others did too. Soon the case was big enough that it was making the news and the police were talking about bringing charges. From some of the stories she’d heard, it seemed she had got off lightly.

She could hardly focus on that though; she was consumed by working out the mystery that was her dreams.

She wasn’t very materialistic and while away with work, she hardly spent anything, as such her savings were quite ample so she didn’t look for a new job but rather, she used her free time to try to discover what had happened to her.

After considering the possibilities, she bought books on amnesia, reincarnation and past lives. Maybe something in there would help her.

She also purchased books on lucid dreaming, magic and witchcraft, Norse mythology and anything and everything else that she thought might either hold some answers for her, or reawaken who she used to be.

Even although she was a fast reader, it was a long and arduous process. Still, she had the time now and spent almost all of her day reading, frantically searching for answers.

First it was the little things she let go. She cancelled her gym membership to save money. Next she gave up wearing makeup most days. She stopped dyeing her prematurely grey hair; the ash blonde colour she put over it seemed to fade quickly and really, who saw her anyway? She tried doing her grocery shopping online to save time going to the supermarket. After the third time, she had set up a list which she could re­order with one click. Showering became an every other day activity, then every third day.

She devoured tome after tome, hoping for some clue, some hint that would lead to answers. She wrote out pages and pages of notes and pretty soon, every surface in her lounge was covered in books or papers.

She visited Amazon and ordered more.

***

Loki tied the green scarf to Nerthus’ arm with a prideful smile.

“There, now no one can doubt your allegiance.”

“I think I’ve made my preferences well known,” she giggled. Not that she objected to wearing his scarf, most of the women at the tournament would be wearing the colours of the competitor they favoured, but those intimate with a warrior could be given something of his to also show his allegiance.

Two weeks ago, the stalls had been a riot of colour, with people picking any one of the 50 contestants to support. Now it was the final and there were just two warriors left, and her heart sank when she realised that green would be in the minority among the crowd, for almost everyone would choose red, to support Thor.

“What is it, Little Dove?” he asked, noting the change in her expression.

“Nothing,” she assured him, not wanting to remind him that his brother was the odds on favourite to win.

Loki’s expression said that he didn’t believe her but he didn’t question her any further either. In truth, he had probably guessed the nature of her thoughts.

He walked away to study his armour in the mirror one last time.

“Will I do?” he asked.

“You look amazing.” And he did. She loved seeing him in his armour. “May I make a suggestion?” she asked.

Although he often sought her opinion and indeed, was willing to change his mind when she made a strong enough argument, she always asked permission to venture an unasked for view.

“Of course, Dove,” he turned and smiled at her.

She pressed her lips together, unsure of how well her suggestion would be taken, but she suspected he would hate it.

“Dove?” he pressed.

She gathered her courage about her and looked him in the eye.

“I think you should lose the match,” she stated baldly.

“Lose?” he seemed amused rather than offended, which was good.

“Yes.” She stepped closer. “And I have two very good reasons for thinking this, Loki. Firstly, Thor is an awful loser and if you win, not only will he make excuses for losing, probably accusing you of cheating, he will make your life a living hell for weeks.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m willing to roll over like a dog.”

“No, not at all,” she agreed, “but the main reason I think you should throw the match, is because no one but me currently knows how much your magical abilities have grown. Knowledge is power, Loki, and having people underestimate you can be a big advantage. Today it is just a tournament, with nothing more at stake than some pride. Tomorrow it could be life or death and the element of surprise could work in your favour.”

“You think Thor would try to kill me?”

He seemed amused by that idea.

“Intentionally? Perhaps not. Thor is not a cold blooded person. However we both know what happened the last time he tried to best you.”

Loki’s expression fled as he remembered her horrific injuries of 7 months ago. The healers had done wonders on her scarring but her hair had fared less well. Loki had used his magic to regrow as much of it as he could but even now, it was only half way down her back, rather than to her waist as was the fashion.

“Thor is not a rational thinker,” Nerthus continued. “He relies on emotions, especially in battle and yes, I do believe that in the heat of the moment, he may someday try to kill you, either in a fit of temper or by accident. It’s always best if your opponent underestimates you rather than overestimates you. Your father made this mistake when he went to war with Vanaheim; because we are a magical race, he thought us weak and unlikely to put up much of a fight, and he and his warriors paid dearly for that conceit.”

Loki pursed his lips as he considered her point.

“If at some point Thor should try to hurt you in a fit of temper, you would have the upper hand. You are easily Thor’s equal now, and you don’t even need a magic hammer to be so, only your wits and talent and without Mjolnir you could beat him hands down. You know that, I know that. Does Thor really need to know that too?”

“I make no promises, Little Dove, but I shall seriously consider your points.”

“Thank you,” she relaxed, glad that she hadn’t offended him with her suggestion.

“You know, you have rather more of a scheming mind that I gave you credit for,” he smirked.

“I prefer to think of it as a strategic mind,” she argued. “Does it bother you?”

“As long as you’re on my side, not in the slightest,” Loki laughed.

***

Nerthus settled next to her brother in the Royal stands. Not in the Royal Box, but in the same stand that housed it. Their status as emissaries, and their titles as Gods allowed them their place, and it also meant that for once, the Warriors three and Sif weren’t with them.

Nerthus hardly ever got too see her brother on his own now and she didn’t intend to miss this opportunity.

“How is Thor treating you?”

Njord shrugged. “He has calmed down but now he seems more indifferent to me than anything.”

“Does he ever ask your opinions?”

“Not any more. His indifference however, seems to work in my favour. I’ve been visiting the library a lot, making friends there. The head curator is also on the council and an adviser to Odin. He’s a nice man and we’ve had some very interesting discussions, so perhaps I can still influence Asgard, albeit indirectly.”

“You still care about that?”

He turned to look at her, surprised. “It’s the whole reason we were sent here.”

“But they made it blatantly obvious from the first day that we were, at best, no more than guests here and at worst, servants.”

“Just because they want to overlook our insights, doesn’t mean we must let them.” He looked into the arena as a flash of green signalled Loki’s arrival. The crowd began to cheer for him.

She had been right, there was far more red in the stands than green, and she knew the roar for Thor would be louder. She sighed.

“What about you, does Loki listen to your opinions?”

“He does. He doesn’t always take my advice but he doesn’t just dismiss it either.”

“Then at least one of us is succeeding in our mission.”

“I hardly have Odin’s ear,” she scoffed. “I must say though, Loki has surprised me with how caring he is.”

“He seems to care for you very much,” Njord noted.

“And I him,” Nerthus answered, although her words were almost drowned out as Thor entered the arena.

She hated watching Loki fight. She wasn’t squeamish, she was a skilled warrior and had seen much carnage in her lifetime, but the idea of this man being hurt was unthinkable, and at every match, she had found herself clinging to whoever was beside her, looking away each time Loki was hit. Of course, as Loki progressed through the ranks, the matches had become longer and more brutal.

She was pleased that he had made it to the final, for he would have been teased mercilessly had he lost to an ordinary warrior. Now though, she hoped he would heed her advice; being beaten by Thor might be a blow to his pride, but it still made him the second best warrior in Asgard, thus deserving of respect.

As Thor and Loki came to the middle of the ring, Loki looked over and winked at her.

“Has he asked you to marry him yet?” Njord asked.

“No.”

“You’ve been sharing his bed for months now, surely it’s time.”

Odin called a start to the match, and Nerthus flinched into Njord’s side as Thor swing the hammer at Loki. He managed to dodge it and move behind Thor, sending a dagger flying when there was sufficient distance. Thor batted it away with Mjolnir.

“Odin won’t allow it,” she answered her brother, her voice tight with tension. “He’s too young, apparently.”

“Too young?” Njord scoffed. “Please, he’s nearly a thousand. Were he 600 I could understand it but­”

“I know,” she cut him off and clutched at his hand. “I think he wants Thor to marry first though.”

“They still believe that the oldest siblings must marry before the younger ones?”

“I think it’s more about getting Loki on board with trying to persuade Thor to settle down. I know that Frigga thinks that a wife would be very beneficial for Thor, and I’m sure her husband feels the same.”

“So because they failed to teach him any manners or humility, they want to draft some poor woman in to do their job for them?”

“Hush,” she gasped. She turned her face into Njord’s shoulder as Loki was sent flying through the air. She took the opportunity to hiss in her brother’s ear. “They are only five seats behind us, they might hear you.”

Njord did as she asked and they watched the tournament in silence, save for the gasps or cheers that Nerthus gave in reaction to the events they were watching.

“You’ve been teaching him magic,” Njord noted.

“I have. In a few years, I think he will surpass even me in skill.”

Njord looked over to her, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “He’s that good?”

“The most talented I’ve ever come across.”

“That should make this interesting then,” he turned back to the ring with a small smile on his lips and in that moment, Nerthus knew that he was rooting for Loki, along with her, rather than Thor. His treatment of her brother must have indeed been harsh, for Njord was an incredibly hard man to upset. She could probably count on two hands the number of times he had shouted in their nearly 1000 years of life.

Both siblings were good warriors but while Nerthus had a natural aptitude for magic, Njord had an innate talent for learning. As such, the library would be perfect for his temperament,

“Have you watched all of Loki’s matches from behind someone’s shoulder?” he asked, sounding amused.

“Pretty much.”

“I wonder why you bother coming, since you’re missing half the action.”

“I come to support him. Yes!” she cried as Loki sent Thor flying.

“You never seem this upset when I fight. I think I’m offended.”

“We both learned to fight almost before we could walk, I’m used to seeing you get bloodied. Besides, it’s not nice to tease me.”

“I’ve just never seen you behave like this before. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were in love.”

“Would that be so awful?” she asked.

Njord turned to look at his sister. “You are!” he whispered. “My word!”

“I don’t know what you’re so surprised about, you were the one asking about marriage.”

“Have you forgotten all our lessons? Love warps the judgement. How are you going to remain impartial if you’re in love?”

“Maybe there are more important things than impartiality,” she replied, knowing she’d given that away on their second day here, when she pledged her allegiance to Loki. “Besides, I don’t see us being given much opportunity to negotiate peace treaties all the time we’re the playthings of Odin’s sons, do you?”

“Who can tell what the future holds?”

“Oh, stop chiding me!” she snapped. “It’s not like I asked for this, but now it’s happened, I’m not going to deny it either. Can’t you be happy for me?”

“Of course I’m happy for you.” Njord looped his arm around her shoulders. “I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Nope, not a clue,” she admitted. “But it’s fun finding out.”

The match continued for another hour and Nerthus began to think that Loki had decided not to take her advice, until he felled Thor, then turned to her and blew her a kiss. To everyone else, it probably looked like Loki was getting cocky, thinking he’d knocked Thor out, but Nerthus knew better, he never made such mistakes.

Thor, of course, took the opportunity to kick Loki’s legs out from under him, then he placed Mjolnir on his chest.

Loki struggled for a moment, then relaxed. A moment later, Thor raised his arms and the crowd cheered, so she knew Loki had conceded victory.

After a few more moments basking in his glory, Thor removed Mjolnir from Loki’s chest and offered his hand to help Loki up. To Nerthus’ surprise, he accepted and even clapped Thor on the back, congratulating him.

“Wonders will never cease,” Njord said. Everyone knew the animosity between the brothers when it came to competition, so Loki’s ease probably did seem odd to most.

Nerthus knew that it was easier to lose when you had intended to. This would help Loki’s image; most people didn’t understand why he chafed at always coming second to Thor, they didn’t see the unfairness of it, so this new behaviour would make it seem as if Loki was maturing.

She had to wait in the stalls while Odin and Frigga congratulated them and while there was no real prize, only a ribbon, Frigga pinned it onto Thor’s armour and after that, Nerthus was allowed into the arena.

She ran straight to Loki and although she wanted to jump into his arms, she refrained in case he was hurt.

“Are you okay?”

“Already healed myself,” he said, scooping her into a bridal hold and kissing her passionately.

“Now this is unfair!” Thor remarked, interrupting their kiss. “The loser has a pretty woman in his arms, but is there no kiss for the victor?”

He might have been teasing, but it was a pointed barb.

“You are surrounded by beautiful maidens, all of whom will be more than happy to kiss you,” Nerthus replied laughing, although her point was valid; there was a crowd of beautiful young maidens around him.

“And am I not deserving of a kiss from the prettiest woman in Asgard?”

Nerthus had been hoping he would take the hint but evidently, subtlety was not in his vocabulary. She looked to Loki and he gave an imperceptible nod, then set her down.

“Of course, Your Highness.” She approached him with trepidation, hoping that he would settle for a quick peck on the cheek.

Needless to say, he didn’t. He grabbed her by the waist, holding her to him with one arm around her waist so her feet didn’t touch the floor, while the other hand grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into a punishing kiss.

It really was punishing too, she was pretty sure there were wild wargs who had better technique. Finally, grinning like a fool, he let her go and somehow she refrained from wiping her mouth, plastering a smile on her face as she returned to Loki.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

“That display was not _your_ fault,” he assured her. “Come, I have to wash the blood off before the celebration this evening.”

“That’s hours away,” Nerthus smiled at his cheek.

“Is it?” he looked confused. “Well hell and damnation, you’ll just have to find some way to entertain me until this evening then.”

“I might have a few ideas,” she said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and they headed back towards the palace.

“Oh? Do tell.”

“Well, I thought we’d start with a nice, hot bath.”

“I already said I needed a wash.”

“Yes, but I will be doing the washing, and adding those salts that you say smell too feminine, but that you add to the water when you think I’m not looking.”

He chuckled.

“Then, I have some sensual oils to help me massage any remaining aches and pains from your muscles.”

“I told you I had healed myself.”

“One can never be too careful with physical well-being, Loki.”

“Very true,” he nodded as if she had offered words of sage wisdom, rather than an excuse to run her hands over him.

Those they passed on their way through the palace nodded, some with a smile at seeing the usually mercurial prince so serene following a loss.

“After that, I think there should be some physical exertion, otherwise you might stiffen up before the dancing this evening.”

“I thought that was what the massage was for?”

“No, the massage is to recover from the bout. This is preparation for the banquet.”

“And what sort of physical exertion did you have in mind?”

“Well, we could go running, or there’s lifting weights, we could train of course, but that would be a little too similar to this afternoon’s events, I think.”

“Any other options?”

“Well…” she caught his eye then looked away, as if she was shy. She used to be rather matter of fact about sex, no blushing or embarrassment but with Loki, she did feel bashful at times and had been surprised to realise that she actually enjoyed that feeling. “We could always fuck like rabbits in mating season.”

Going from coy to crass, like that, also seemed to have a very positive effect on Loki.

“Hmm,” Loki pretended to consider. “Couldn’t I fuck you senseless first, then bathe, then the massage, then fuck you again until you can’t walk straight before the banquet?”

Their door was now in sight and although they had only been talking, she was already turned on and ready to be fucked senseless.

“As you know, I am your faithful servant, Master, and your wish is my command; however being unable to walk straight might just make dancing this evening a little tricky.”

“Considering that my oaf of a brother will surely ask you for a dance, that is no bad thing.”

As soon as the door closed behind them, Nerthus magicked her clothes away, got down on her knees with her thighs spread, pressed her forehead to the floor and crossed her wrists out in front of her.

“Little Dove?” he asked, surprised by her sudden submissive pose. “Explain yourself.”

She sat up but kept her eyes downcast. “You lost the tournament because of me and if you wished to punish me, I would completely understand.”

Loki offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet.

“Oh darling, I will punish you, by making you come so many times that you no longer know which way is up.” He stepped closer, crowding her personal space. “I intend to wring every ounce of sexual pleasure from that tiny body of yours so that when you see my brother later, you will be incapable of feeling anything sexual.”

“That is wholly unnecessary, Master, I feel nothing for your brother and never have, but far be it for me to deny you your wish!”

“Good girl. Now, take me in your mouth and make me come as quickly as you can.” His clothes vanished in a green glow.

She got to her knees but was slightly surprised by his request, since not only did he prefer to come inside her, it rather went against what he said he had planned.

Her confusion must have shown in her expression. He smirked at her as she wrapped her lips around his length.

“We have approximately five hours until the feast begins, and this will help me last longer later, so I can fuck you to within an inch of your life a little later.”

He felt her moan of pleasure vibrating through his cock and closed his eyes, his hand going to her head to guide her pacing.

She mixed her techniques up, holding him in her fist while she gently licked his tip, using her tongue to tease his glans as she sucked, then removing her hand and taking him deep into her throat.

She looked up at him and he was gazing down at her. She answered his unasked question with a small nod.

Placing both his hands in her hair, he now took over, fucking her throat mercilessly. When he came, he pulled her onto his cock until her nose pressed into his curls as he spilled his seed down her throat.

When he released her, she took a few deep, gasping breaths, then began to clean his softening shaft up with her tongue.

Ever the gentleman, he offered her his hand to help her to her feet when she was finished.

“That was amazing,” he told her.

“Thank you, Master.”

“Now, let’s see about that bath, shall we?”

***

Mira’s research hadn’t yielded much in the way of results. The only thing that worked in restoring her memories seemed to be sleep, and each night a little more of her life was restored to her.

She also had limited success with magic but after a lot of practice, she had mastered some rudimentary sorcery, such as levitation. It tired her out dreadfully but that meant she slept more, which was a plus in her book.

After five months however, she realised that she was becoming obsessed. She had broken off all friendships and hardly ever left the house any more.

As she stepped out of the shower one morning, she caught her reflection in the mirror and was shocked by what she saw.

She had long since stopped dying her hair and the dye had faded to the point that it was almost indistinguishable from her white roots. She looked like she remembered in her dreams, only a skeletal version of herself.

Her collar bones protruded painfully and although it was difficult, she dropped the towel and was shocked by how prominent her ribs and hips had become. Her sickly pale skin was stretched grotesquely over her bones, and she realised that her obsession with uncovering her past was slowly killing her.

It was hard to let go but she realised that she had to, or she might not be alive to be reunited with Loki.

She checked her savings and was pleased to see that, having been boosted by her compensation payout for sexual harassment, the balance was still relatively healthy. But she still needed to get out of the house, so she got herself a part time translating job for the police. She was fluent in six languages and knew a little of another five, so she was a popular choice for the job. She could be called out at odd hours, whenever they had a suspect who spoke one of the languages she was fluent in, but it still gave her a lot of free time to herself.

She slowly regained weight but she didn’t start dying her hair again. She didn’t care if people thought it was grey, _this_ was who she was.

When it became clear that her research into reclaiming her memories wasn’t going to prove fruitful, she instead began to look into ways to reach Asgard. She didn’t dare call on Heimdall since she didn’t know why she was on Earth, but she did find a researcher who was trying to open an Einstein Rosen bridge to the Land of the Gods, and she read every research paper that Jane Foster had published. Of course, understanding the theory didn’t help her reach Asgard, but knowledge was power.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Mira had become Jane Foster’s internet stalker and had intended to find a way to contrive a meeting, until she happened across witness statements from New Mexico that said she and Thor appeared to be a couple.

Mira still didn’t know how she was mortal or why she was on Earth, but she knew that if Thor found her, she would be executed. It galled her to see everyone here revere Thor as a hero after New York, because she knew the truth; he was a cold­hearted, jealous, vindictive bastard, and if she still had her magic, she would seriously consider killing him herself.

He seemed to have vanished once more though, returning to Asgard with ‘The War Criminal, Loki’, as the papers called him.

If only she could have seen him while he was here.

The rage she felt at Thor was all consuming and she boiled with it. She had no outlet for her frustrations here. She needed Loki to take control of her, to free her from herself. She had never missed him more than she did right now.

She had tried BDSM in her early 20s, recognising that she had those tendencies, but it wasn’t the same as in her dreams. She had never met a man on Earth that she could trust as she trusted Loki, and that was before she even realised that Loki was real.

Instead, she practiced her magic and discovered that rage and anger helped fuel it and although she could still only access a tiny fraction of the powers she remembered in her dreams, it was proof that she was neither a true mortal, nor insane.

What she had managed to master, was one of her earliest spells as a child. Well, as a Vanir child.

With concentration she could temporarily alter her appearance and once she had managed to maintain the illusion for six weeks, she applied for a government job with MI6. It was just a desk job, translating documents and transcribing taped conversations, but it brought her one step closer to SHIELD, the shady organisation that Thor had helped in New York.

If there was one thing her Vanir life had taught her, it was keep your friends close and your enemies closer. SHIELD sided with Thor and that made them the enemy.

Her existing ID and passport photos all showed her with dyed blonde hair, which she now maintained through an illusion rather than hair dye, then she subtly altered her features just enough to make it look like she was an older version of her passport, perhaps with a few nips and tucks but she still looked like herself when compared to her old pictures. As she worked her way closer to SHIELD (and Thor) she would darken her hair an slowly change her features, she could simply claim to her colleagues that she had botox, fillers, or a cosmetic surgery.

By the time she was where she wanted to be, she was certain that Thor would never recognise her.

***

“Have you thought about what you would like for an engagement present, Dove?” Frigga asked as she braided the strands of gold into Nerthus’ hair.

Everyone now called her Dove, she even introduced herself that way, as if Loki’s term of endearment had become her name. She preferred it to Nerthus. She didn't know who had given her that name or why. She knew why Loki called her Little Dove, because she looked small and fragile, but she could also soar to the highest heights, especially with Loki by her side.

“I want for nothing,” She answered the Queen honestly. “I already have everything I could possibly wish for.”

Frigga smiled at her in the mirror and put her hands on her shoulders. “I can't tell you how pleased I am that Odin finally agreed to this union.”

“And it only took 30 years,” Nerthus teased.

“You have been very good for my son and I think he finally sees that.”

“I only wish that my brother could have been as good for Thor.”

Thor had soon tired of Njord and had spent less and less time in his company. Her brother had eventually taken up an unofficial position in the library.

In some ways it was good, since it meant Njord was no longer subjected to the taunts that Thor and his friends used to level at him, but it was not the role he was supposed to play. Both of them had been gifted to Asgard to become advisers, not librarians.

Sadly, while Loki did listen to Nerthus and was willing to learn from her, his opinion was not respected by his father, so even Nerthus, who did have the ear of a prince, was unable to provide any meaningful guidance to the people of Asgard.

Personally she was fulfilled, but she wished that her knowledge was respected. She and Njord were not the God and Goddess of Peace for nothing.

“I know Thor is not perfect,” Frigga admitted. “But at heart, he is a good man, and when he is king, Loki will be his most trusted advisor, so your skills will not go to waste.”

Nerthus wished that she could be as certain of Thor’s goodness as his mother was, but she didn’t press her point any further.

Frigga picked up another strand of gold for the next braid.

“I can have a handmaiden do this,” Nerthus assured her.

“Nonsense. I have never had a daughter until now, and I will braid my girl’s hair if I want to.”

Nerthus reached back and took Frigga’s hand. “I’ve never had a mother until now either.”

“Well you have one now, my darling.”

She finished braiding Nerthus’ hair, then helped her into her gown for the engagement ball.

“You look amazing,” Frigga assured her.

“Thank you.”

Her gown was green and gold, obviously, floor length with a full skirt and a decorative gold breast plate.

Since she didn’t have any parents, as a fellow Vanir, Frigga would escort her to the hall and to the dais, where Odin and Loki were waiting. The crowd fell silent as the main doors opened and watched raptly as she and Frigga proceeded towards the throne.

From his position on the steps, Loki caught her eye and smiled warmly at her. Even Thor grinned at her, seemingly happy for Loki, for once.

Nerthus got down on one knee once she was at the stairs to the dias and Odin stood up, banging Gungnir on the floor.

“Rise,” he commanded, and Nerthus got to her feet.

“We are gathered here today to announce the union of Loki Odinson and Nerthis, Goddess of Peace. Who gives this woman to the House of Odin?”

“I do,” Frigga stepped forward.

“And have all the contracts and agreements been signed?” Odin asked her.

“They have, my King.”

“Nerthus, will you swear loyalty to my son, Loki, and to the House or Odin?”

“I will.”

“Then I, Odin Allfather, agree to this union. Loki, you may collect your future bride.”

The onlookers erupted into applause as Loki descended the stairs and took her hand.

“You look amazing,” he smiled at her.

“Thank you.”

Odin banged Gungnir again, calling for quiet.

“I declare that three months hence, on the night of the summer solstice, Loki Odinson and Nerthus, Goddess of Peace shall be joined in matrimony. Now, we feast!”

The crowd cheered harder and everyone made their way into the banqueting hall.

Like all Asgardian parties, this one was raucous, with lots of drinking, dancing and singing. Nerthus and Loki received many congratulations and no one tried to assault her, as they had at her first gathering on Asgard.

Loki and Nerthus were dancing, as they had been doing for most of the night, when a rather merry Thor sidled up beside them.

“Brother, come, drink with us.”

“Thank you, Thor, but I am rather busy.”

“Too busy for your brother?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, this is my engagement party.”

“Which is why you should come and celebrate with me! Both of you. Come!” Thor took hold of Loki’s arm but he wouldn’t be dragged away and stood firm.

“We’ll come join you and your friends for a drink in a moment,” he tried to placate Thor.

Thor didn’t seem to like being dismissed, but he accepted it. “I shall ask for some spiced wine for the both of you.”

After he turned and left, Loki sighed.

“Don’t be too hard on him, he misses you.”

“He never appreciated me when he had my loyalty, so it hardly stands to reason that he misses me now.”

“People don’t appreciate what they have until it’s gone,” she reminded him.

“Perhaps, but he should be thinking of settling down himself, not trying to get me away from you.”

Nerthus looked over to Thor’s table, which was thronged with young maidens eager to catch the Prince’s eye.

“I think he’s having too good a time being single,” she said with amusement.

“And I don’t begrudge him that, I only ask the same consideration in return.”

“He will have to accept us once we are married,” she tried to reassure him.

“He’s had 30 years to accept it, I hardly think one ceremony will change things.”

“He’s fine most of the time,” Nerthus reminded him. “It’s just because tonight is the start of making our union official. Things between you will change and no one likes change.”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “So let us head over there now, play nicely for a while, then we’ll slip away when a maiden catches his eye.”

“As will he!” Nerthus quipped.

They headed over and watched as Thor got progressively more drunk and unruly. Loki wasn’t a big drinker since it interfered not only with his ability to think, but also to perform magic. He would have a few, but Nerthus had never seen him drunk, and she could count on one hand the number of times she had seen him tipsy.

“And now,” Thor said, raising his tankard high and slopping mead over the table. “I would like to propose a toast to my little brother, Loki, and my future sister, Bird.”

“Dove,” Loki corrected.

“Dove,” Thor said with mirth. Loki’s pet name for Nerthus had always amused him, for reasons neither of them could fathom. “Come, sister, dance with me.”

He practically dragged Nerthus onto the dancefloor, not giving her a chance to protest, and proceeded to pull her around the floor. She soon lost sight of Loki through the crowd.

“You know, I think you chose the wrong brother,” he said as they danced.

“You would.”

“I will be ruler of Asgard one day, and you could be my queen.”

Nerthus just about restrained herself from rolling her eyes. “I have no desire to be your queen, Thor, I love Loki.”

Thor tightened his hold on her, his hands wandering where they had no business being.

“Just one night then, allow me to show you what you would be missing.”

“Tempting, but no.” She took his hands and placed them back on her waist.

“Not everyone can say that they have lain with a king,” he cajoled.

“And I am happy to be counted among those who cannot brag about that.”

“Come on, one time. I guarantee Loki will pale in comparison.” Nerthus was starting to lose her temper.

“This, this is highly inappropriate, we’re celebrating my engagement to Loki.”

“Then time runs short. Better to see what you’re missing before it’s too late.”

“Thank you, but no.”

Thor tightened his grip again and with one hand on the back of her head, he forced her into a kiss.

Nerthus used her magic and teleported away and since Thor was rather inebriated, when she disappeared he overbalanced and fell to the floor.

Nerthus’ temper finally snapped.

“I will never want you!” she yelled at him. “You are a boorish braggart, with an ego the size of Yggdrasil and absolutely no understanding of manners, decorum or the word ‘no’! I will not share your bed this night or any night, now kindly get that through your thick, oafish skull!”

She turned away and ran straight into Loki, who had been making his way over to them when he saw her distress. He folded her into his arms and glared at Thor.

The music and dancing had stopped and the crowd around were watching raptly, for it was not every day that you saw the future king bested by a small woman.

“Do you wish to stay?” he asked her softly, still glaring at his brother, although his voice was soft.

“Dance with me?” she asked him.

“Of course.”

The warriors three tried to help Thor up, although he refused them, and Loki looked over to the musicians.

“Play on,” Loki demanded as he led Nerthus to a different region of the dancefloor. “Something slow, romantic.”

Nerthus saw Frigga looking over, her expression concerned but beside her, Odin sat as impassive as ever.

Loki put her arms around his neck and as the music began to play, they swayed gently.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m not as delicate as I look, Loki. You know that.”

“I do. I also know how rough Thor can be.”

“I’m more angry than anything,” she assured him. “If he doesn’t grow up soon, Asgard will be in serious trouble when he is king.”

“I know,” Loki sighed. “But I think Father will be around for a good while longer.”

“What about the next Odinsleep? It must surely happen in the next forty years, at most. Probably less, as he is getting older.”

“Thor will be the regent, not the king. He won’t have time to do any damage.”

“Are you sure about that? It seems to me that he would pick a fight with a religious order just for a chance to battle, he’s so eager for victory.”

Loki smiled. “Then it will be our job to talk him out of it.”

“Our?”

“You will be my wife by then, my partner in all things, and you _are_ the Goddess of Peace.”

“Thor stretches even my skills in diplomacy!”

“Well we will think no more on that tonight,” Loki’s tone brooked no argument. “This is a celebration, of us no less, and I insist you enjoy it.”

“And if I don’t?” she teased.

Loki bent his head until his lips brushed her ear. “Tonight I will make you scream, Little Dove. Whether you scream from pleasure, pain, or frustration, is entirely up to you.”

He practically felt her relax in his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I love you, Loki.”

“And I you, Little Dove. More than I thought possible.”

They remained in each other’s arms, gently swaying to the music, for another hour, before retiring to their room for the night.

***

“I heard what happened last night, are you all right?” Njord asked as Nerthus joined him in the gardens.

“I’m fine,” she assured him.

“Thor will not take such a blow to his pride lightly, you should be more careful.”

“I am as careful as I can be, without allowing him to grope me in public.” She slipped her arm through his and they began their daily walk in the grounds.

Njord preferred to keep company with his scholarly friends at the library, so he rarely attended the banquets these days and if he did, he left early.

“Still, it would not do to make an enemy of him.”

“But I’m not his enemy.”

“All I’m saying is, be careful. An ego such as Thor’s is not lightly appeased.”

“I’m not afraid of Thor.”

“Perhaps you should be,” he cautioned.

“I know you work in a library now, but don’t tell me you’ve forgotten our battles, brother,” she teased.

“Thor would not come at you directly. He is no match for Loki’s intelligence but he is cunning when he needs to be, and he will not confront you if there are other ways to undermine your relationship.”

“What other ways?” Nerthus’ tone was chiding.

“I don’t know, but Thor only needs an opportunity and he will snatch it with both hands.”

“You overestimate him,” Nerthus shrugged off his fears.

“I spent many months in the man’s company, Nerthus, you would do well to heed my words.”

“I will,” she promised him. “Now can we talk of happier things?”

“Of course.”

“How is the library?”

His face lit up with pleasure. “We just received a shipment of scrolls from Nifleheim,” he grinned. “Now granted, they’re written in ancient trollish but once we’ve translated them, they should be exciting.”

Nerthus laughed. “Your definition of exciting and mine differ somewhat.”

Suddenly two guards stepped out in front of them, blocking their path.

“Your presence is required in the throne room,” One said in a booming voice.

“Oh, all right.” Nerthus leaned over and kissed Njord’s cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Of cour-­”

“You are both required.” The guard practically yelled.

The siblings shared an odd look; ever since Thor had stopped requiring Njord’s presence, he’d had little to do with the royal family. Both felt a very slight sense of unease but they had been living here for over thirty years now with no problems, so they didn’t anticipate trouble.

Nerthus presumed this was something related to her upcoming wedding.

“Very well, we’ll go right there. Thank you.” Nerthus said as she and her brother turned away from the guards, but each guard reached out to grab one of their arms each.

“We are to escort you,” the loud guard told them.

“All right.” Nerthus shared another look with her brother as their sense of unease grew.

Each guard kept a hold of their upper arm and they separated the siblings, so they had to walk one behind the other.

Nerthus tried to think of a reason they might both be summoned, and in such a manner, but the only explanation she could think of, a resumption of the war, didn’t bear thinking about.

The guard led them to the throne and once there, Nerthus had to pull her arm out of the guard’s hold in order to go down on one knee.

“Rise,” Odin ordered, and the guards both took up positions to the side of the huge throne room.

While she looked around for Loki, Nerthus rubbed her upper arm where the guard had gripped it and her brother stepped up beside her.

“Allfather, what is the meaning of this?” she asked.

Odin’s expression was thunderous. “Your people have murdered one of our emissaries.”

“What? How? Why?”

“The details matter not, all that matters is that your people killed one of ours, one meant as a gift of peace, no less.”

“How do you know?” she demanded. The Vanir were not naturally a volatile people.

“Because they sent us his head!” Odin roared.

The doors at the end of the hall opened and Thor came running in.

“Father, I came as soon as I heard,” Thor said, shooting both of the Vanir a dirty look as he passed them. “Is it true, is Mimir dead?”

“He is,” Odin confirmed.

Nerthus looked to Frigga, who was standing beside the throne, hoping to glean something from her expression, but all she saw was sadness.

“Then the warlings must die too!” Thor said, glaring at Nerthus.

She felt her first wave of real terror, because Odin looked just pissed enough to actually do it.

“This makes no sense,” she tried to reason with the king. “We are a peaceful people and this treaty was our idea!”

“The Vanir are vile scum!” Thor proclaimed.

“Thor!” Frigga rebuked him. “Have you forgotten that I am Vanir?”

Thor looked a little chastened but still angry. He pointed his hammer at Nerthus and Njord. “Their people murdered one of ours. They must pay for it, blood for blood.”

“What happened?” Nerthus asked again, for surely no sensible decision could be reached without knowing the circumstances.

“That is not known,” Odin admitted. “But the sending of a severed head can only have one meaning, a hostile one.”

“If you have the head, I can reanimate it for a few moments,” she suggested. “Then Mimir can tell you himself what happened.”

“Father, we cannot trust her,” Thor implored. “I have seen her magics, she could make the head say whatever she wished.”

“Can you trust me?” Frigga asked him.

“Mother, how can you even ask such a thing?”

“Then allow me to reanimate the head.”

Neither Thor nor Odin could come up with an argument against this and the head was ordered to be brought to the throne room.

As it was laid before the steps of Odin’s dais, Loki suddenly barrelled into the room.

“Where have you been?” Frigga demanded.

“Thor told me that Father had requested my presence in the weapons vault. Luckily a guard I passed on my way told me what had happened.” Loki shot Thor a dark look as he put his arms around Nerthus.

Frigga also shot Thor a reproachful look before as she descended the steps, Odin and Thor following behind her.

“Now we will discover the truth of this situation.” Frigga knelt down beside the chest that housed Mimir’s head. The gruesome appendage had been placed on straw and after weaving her magic (which had greatly improved since Nerthus had taught her some of what she had taught Loki) its dead eyes opened.

“Mimir,” Odin addressed it.

“Allfather,” it replied, the milky eyes seeking him out.

“Tell me of the events which lead to your death.”

‘ _He can’t even be nice to a dead guy_ ,’ Nerthus thought.

“Hoenir was made a chief and greatly revered but when they asked him a question without me, he was often unable to answer. This upset them and they eventually came to realise that Hoenir was not the wise man you had made him out to be, and that his counsel had all come from me. Your deception angered them as they had sent you two of their most revered Gods, and you had palmed them off with one wiseman and a fraud, and so they put me to death.”

“One of theirs must be put to death in retaliation!” Thor demanded.

“Why?” Nerthus demanded. “The Aesir started this war and when we finally declared a truce, according to your own emissary, you deceived us! The fault here lies with your people alone, and you should bear it as the cost of your lies. Your son nearly killed me just a week after I arrived here, did you see me telling my people to restart hostilities? No. The Vanir are angry that you betrayed them but we do want peace.”

“Father!” Thor looked to Odin. “We _cannot_ let this lie, we must retaliate.”

“Dove is right, Father.” Loki spoke up. “The Vanir sent us two of their most highly regarded gods and not only did your son abuse his gift, as well as mine, we have played the Vanir false. We deserve their retaliation.”

“Listen to your son, Odin,” Frigga also pleaded. “There has been more than enough bloodshed between our peoples.”

Odin didn’t answer for quite some time and everyone waited with bated breath.

“Thor is right, we cannot let this lie. Blood must be answered with blood. I have no wish to restart a war and so, if the warlings are put to death, that will be the end of the matter.”

“NO!” Loki’s cry echoed through the chamber.

“Take them away,” Odin ordered and the guards stepped forward and forcefully removed Nerthus and Njord from the room. Loki fought them with everything he had but Thor restrained him with Mjolnir, pinning him to the floor. Not even his magic could help when he was restrained by such a powerful instrument.

Nerthus had tears streaming down her face as she was finally subdued and led away, her eyes remained on Loki for as long as possible though.

“I love you!” she called, just as the doors swung shut. She thought she heard him say the same in reply but she couldn’t be sure.

She and Njord were dragged to the dungeons and thrown into a cell. Nerthus banged on the forcefield securing them until her hands began to bleed, and Njord pulled her away.

“I’m sorry,” she said, clinging onto him.

“This is not your fault.”

“Thor’s anger is. He feels I am taking his brother away from him and this was the perfect excuse to end me. I’m sorry you were dragged in too.”

“This isn’t your fault,” he assured her. “Frigga and Loki are on our side and I’m sure, reason will win out in the end, you’ll see.”

Loki and Frigga, whilst they possessed the coolest heads, were not the most powerful in the royal family, and knowing how volatile Odin and Thor were, she was not at all sure of their ability to reason with them.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point on, there are some plot details (and characters) from Agents of Shield entering the picture. If you haven’t seen that show I think you’ll still be able to follow it but I’ll put notes at the end for any relevant plot points that might need clarification.

**Chapter Six**

Mira’s language skills were unparalleled and with the aid of her magic, she had taught herself to be fluent in another four languages.

She was quickly promoted through the ranks of MI6 (or the Secret Intelligence Service as it was officially known) with ever increasing security clearance and when she was high enough, she began to bring in pictures of the bifrost markings left at each landing site, telling her colleagues that decrypting them was a hobby.

Of course, she was fluent in the Aesir language and symbols, but she made it look like she was trying to decipher them, working out a little at a time.

From reading books and articles on amnesia, she thought that retrograde amnesia was the one that most fit her. She had no memories of her life before a certain date (except her dreams, and she wasn’t sure they counted as memories) however she could remember everything she had learned, from being able to walk and dance (which to be fair, she could have learned as a human) to being able to read and write Asgardian, Vanirian and a couple of other language that her dreams hadn’t touched on yet.

Once she began her Asgardian translation puzzle, it only took another five weeks until she was approached by someone.

Her surprise when she was bundled into the back of a van was genuine, and it was only quick thinking that stopped her from fighting back, as she (or Little Dove) had been trained to do.

She was delivered to a SHIELD base, but of course they didn’t tell her they were SHIELD until she agreed to work for them. She had studied so much footage from New Mexico that she recognised the man who sat before her. He hadn’t been at New York, but he was at the other two sites, New Mexico and Greenwich, which was just a few weeks ago.

She had watched the destruction by the Dark Elves with rapt attention, as had almost everyone else on Earth. Obviously her office was flooded with activity, but her workload actually lightened. It turns out that alien attacks actually deter terrestrial terrorists for a bit. Who knew?

Once her hood was pulled off, she had found herself in some kind of interrogation room, cuffed to a chair. The man sitting before her, with his slightly thinning hair and sharp black suit, knew Thor. She was sure of it.

“Whoever you are, I don’t know any secrets.”

“We’re not interested in your present job, Miss Aves, we’d like to offer you a new job.”

“Most people take an advertisement out.”

“I’m afraid we can't do that, our organisation is underground.”

“My bosses will realise I’m missing, you know, they’ll come looking for me.”

“I highly doubt that, they think you’ve been transferred to the Foreign Office.”

“Who are you?”

“We’re the good guys.”

“Good guys don’t kidnap people.”

“You haven’t been kidnapped. If you’d like to go, you’re free to leave, anytime.”

She sat silently, considering how to play this.

“What if I refuse your offer?”

“We withdraw the transfer papers and you go back to your old life.”

“So I can tell everyone you kidnapped me?” she scoffed. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m completely serious.”

“Then what do you want with me?”

“We understand that you’ve made some progress translating the marking from the bifrost sites.”

“It’s just a hobby.”

“We’d like for you to make it your job and to see if you can translate the markings on the alien spacecraft that landed in Greenwich. The world is changing and the Dark Elves aren’t the only threat out there. The more we can learn about alien civilisations, the better prepared we’ll be.”

“Why don’t you just ask Thor?”

“Because as much as I personally like the man, he is one of the aliens and we can’t always be sure we can trust him.”

‘ _Maybe these guys aren’t as easily fooled as it appeared_ ,’ she thought.

“I can tell you’re interested.” He said, smiling. “Why don’t you let me show you a little of what we do, then you can make your decision.”

That did surprise her and she actually did a double take.

“Nothing classified,” he assured her, standing up and getting the keys to her handcuffs out. “Are you interested in learning more?”

“What’s your name?”

“Phil.”

She considered him for a few more moments.

“Okay, fine, I’ll take the tour.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

***

“Loki!” Nerthus ran to the forcefield as soon as she saw Loki approach but she could already tell from his expression that the news wasn’t good.

“You haven’t eaten your lunch,” he said, arching one eyebrow pointedly. “You need to keep hydrated.”

She didn’t understand why, but she picked up the goblet and downed the contents in a few mouthfuls. The action reminded her of the second time he had dominated her, and had given her a potion so he could monitor her emotions since she was still healing.

_‘Can you hear me?’_

_‘Yes.’_ She approached the barrier once more. _‘And you?’_ Loki looked to Njord.

“Yes. How is-­”

 _‘THINK IT!’_ Loki admonished.

_‘How is this possible?’_

_‘I slipped a potion into the drink that came with your lunch,’_ Loki explained. _‘I was unable to change Odin’s mind, you will both be put to death tomorrow morning, but I have a plan.’_

 _‘What?’_ Nerthus wanted to know.

_‘I will create a momentary distraction and the forcefield will be weakened. That will allow you to create a clone outside of the cell and transfer your consciousness into it, then leave the other clone inside the cell so they have no idea you're missing.’_

_‘I don’t know if I can control a clone through the forcefield,’_ Nerthus admitted.

_‘I have accounted for that. There will be another potion with your evening meal. Save it until you have teleported out and have the clone drink it. It will make your clone real, for all intents and purposes. They will have limited intelligence and reactions but unusual behaviour leading up to an execution are quite normal, no one will suspect a thing. I will then spirit you both out of Asgard and away from Odin’s wrath.’_

_‘Loki,’_ Nerthus held her hand near the forcefield. _‘This is treason. If you’re caught…’_ she couldn’t even verbalise the rest.

_‘If we are caught, we will all be put to death. I would rather die with you, than see you murdered to soothe some imagined vendetta.’_

She understood how he felt, but she felt as if she was condemning him to her sentence.

_‘I can't let you do this.’_

Loki’s gaze hardened. _‘I think you’ve forgotten who is Master and who is servant in this relationship, Little Dove.’_

_‘Loki, be realistic, if you die because of me, I’ll never forgive myself.’_

_‘And if you die because I did not try to rescue you, I could never forgive myself either. Now quiet; I will not be argued with on this point.’_

_‘Fine, but if you die too, I’m following you to Valhalla and I will make your afterlife a living hell.’_

Loki found a small smile for her. _‘As long as you are there, I shall not mind so very much.’_

 _‘There’s only one problem with that,’_ Njord interrupted hesitantly. _‘I am not the Master of magic that my sister is, I cannot create clones, only astral projections of no substance.’_

Nerthus turned to her brother with tears in her eyes.

 _‘I can create a copy of you.’_ Nerthus offered, _‘but if you can't leave the cell…’_

 _'Then I will make sure the force field is turned off,’_ Loki assured them.

_‘But-­’_

_‘No arguments! This is happening, Dove, and from in there; you can’t stop me.’_

Well, he was right about that.

_‘When will it happen?’_

_‘Soon after the evening meals are delivered. When the lights dim, you will have five seconds to leave the cell and make the clones drink the potion because once the forcefield goes up, you won’t be able to control your clone through the field. If they haven’t drunk the potion, they will disappear, and people will start hunting for you. Then you must make your way to my quarters and I will guide you to a portal off Asgard.’_

_‘I understand, we’ll be ready, Loki.’_

_‘Good. Stay strong, Little Dove, this is not the end.’_

***

As ‘Phil’ introduced her around, showing her files from some of their operations, things that she didn’t know even existed, Mira quickly realised that she was on a plane, not a base.

She pretended to hesitate over her decision but after sleeping on it, she agreed to work for them and was dropped off at SHIELD’s science training campus.

She would be trained in cryptography, he explained, and might graduate in a year or less if she proved proficient. She didn’t much care about the time scale. She was 1000 years old and she knew that if she could only get back to Loki, he would find a way to restore her immortality.

She graduated in record time and was assigned a desk job. She was in the office for at least ten hours a day, but since she already understood the bifrost markings and the Dark Elf language, she spent most of her time practising her magic. She had to be careful as she was certain she was being surveilled, most likely almost everyone was, but she could stare at pictures for hours on end without it appearing odd, as long as she had breakthroughs occasionally.

While staring at the images, she was actually trying to access the computers using her magic. It wasn’t very effective but each time she tried, she could feel her magic growing a finite amount.

She easily decrypted the bifrost markings (which were just galactic coordinates, nothing earth shattering) therefore proving her worth, and she moved onto salvage from the Dark Elves ship. Most of the ship was in another dimension but they had fragments with markings on and some photographs. Again, nothing important, they all said the Dark Elf equivalent of things such as ‘Exit Hatch’ or ‘Pull Lever’.

After three weeks working on those markings, she was given a new assignment, specifically, part of a Kree map.

She knew just enough of the Kree language to recognise the markings for what they were but she couldn’t read it. What’s more, she didn’t intend to even try! The Kree were barbaric and she wasn’t about to help humanity come to their attention.

Seriously, didn’t anyone think after New York that maybe, just maybe, it was time to stop playing around with alien technology?

Just three weeks after she had been given that assignment, Thor returned to earth. Permanently, apparently.

Her blood boiled as she watched her co-­workers fawn over Thor and the idea he would stay on Earth (presumably thinking they had a shot with him). To make matters worse, some of them who were at New York began recounting stories of how horrific Loki had been.

She did a lot of tongue biting on those days but some people realised that she was hostile.

“I just don’t trust them, coming down here and using our planet like their own personal playground.” She stuck to that reply and no one could really argue her point of view.

She was stationed at a base in California for a while, then she was reassigned back to London after about 3 months.

Jane Foster was still in London, hence so was Thor, and Mira saw an opportunity to befriend him, or at least make contact with him. She requested that her superiors set up a meeting where he could help her understand the basics of some alien languages, so that she could better decipher any other examples that were discovered on Earth.

Before her request could be approved, SHIELD crumbled from within, thanks to Hydra. She thought her chance of getting close to Thor was over, until Phil Coulson came to her flat to pick her up.

“The fight goes on, Mira, we just have to be more discreet about it now.”

The fight did go on, but Coulson was obsessed with the Kree markings again, now more than ever, and insisted she help decipher them.

Once again she tried to convince Coulson to let her speak to Thor, arguing that even if Thor couldn’t read them, if he could help her decipher other alien languages, and one of them might hold the key. Coulson was so desperate for answers that he agreed.

***

So that they were ready to go at a moment’s notice, Nerthus had created clones of herself and Njord long before the evening meal was delivered, then she had cast an illusion spell over herself and her brother so no one else could see them. As soon as the meal arrived, she made both clones drink the potion so that when the force field was lowered, all they had to do was escape.

When the lights flickered, they stepped from the cell and headed for Loki’s quarters. She couldn’t teleport that distance with her brother in tow, so they had to make their way there on foot, taking care not to make noise or bump into anyone.

She paused outside of Loki’s room but she couldn’t hear anyone inside so with trepidation, she opened the door and they quietly slipped inside. Only it wasn’t Loki standing with his back to them. She tried to back away, but whoever it was knew they were there.

“Don’t go yet, we have much to discuss.”

“Who are you? Where’s Loki?”

“He’s being guarded so that he can’t do anything foolish. Like this.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * = See notes at end for a fuller description of events that happened in Agents of SHIELD

**Chapter Seven**

Mira was as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof as she was entered into the office building, and she prayed that Thor wouldn’t be able to recognise her with her altered looks.

The illusion she cast on herself had changed gradually until she now had chestnut hair, a few added inches in height, a fuller, more rounded figure and olive skin. He had known her for thirty years though, so she had to be prepared for the possibility that he could see through her disguise.

She knew it would be a death sentence if he found out the truth, but she had to risk it. She had to know if Loki was okay or if Odin had killed him for his actions on Earth.

The meeting took place in a rather plush but small office in central London, owned by STRIKE, the British sister organisation to SHIELD. The offices were empty now, since STRIKE too had been infiltrated by Hydra, but these offices had never been uncovered as a STRIKE subsidiary, so it was a good meeting place for her to use.

Thor was waiting as she arrived and he smiled as she approached. She almost dropped her files.

“Here, let me help.”

He came over and took the armful of files, notepads and supplies from her, keeping them while she unlocked the main door. They picked the nicest of the three offices inside to work from and Thor placed her belongings on a coffee table in the corner, by some sofas.

He looked very different in human clothing but she seemed frozen to the spot.

“It’s all right, I don’t bite,” he teased her. “Come and sit down.”

She managed to get her legs to work and took a seat on the adjacent sofa.

“My name is Mira,” she said, falling back into her professional persona.

“I know, they told me. You wanted to ask me about our language?”

“Actually, I’ve been trying to decrypt the Dark Elves language. I was hoping you could help with that.”

“Of course. Where should we start?”

Mira shuffled through the folders until she found the pictures of the ship fragments, some of which appeared to have writing on.

“Now, the writing appears to be an isolating language, with a low morpheme to word ratio, similar to some of the Sino-­Tibetan languages on Earth, would you say that’s correct?”

He didn’t understand what she meant but he spent the morning helping her translate the markings she had pictures of.

He seemed very helpful and even quite humble and modest at times, but although she tried to appear friendly towards him, she didn’t let her guard down.

She had brought lunch for them and as they ate, she asked him what Asgard was like.

“They call it the shining city in the sky,” he eagerly explained. “And it is a ray of light in an often dark and unkind universe. It has two suns and…”

Somehow she managed not to scoff when he called it beacon of light. Seriously, could he really believe that crap?

That day she got little more than a description of Asgard from him but they had a week of meetings scheduled, although she was hopeful that if necessary, she could draw it out into more.

The second day she showed him the Kree symbols but he knew even less about them than she did. 

On the third day, Thor began to explain the Aesir language to her and she remembered when she had first been taught it as a child on Vanir, and she asked the same kinds of questions now that she had back then.

Their conversations were recorded so that she could transcribe them later, thus she didn’t dwell much on anything and kept the conversation moving quickly.

While they ate lunch, she asked him more about his home and he answered but he didn’t give a lot away and he never mentioned Loki or a brother.

After lunch he wrote out some samples of Asgardian writing for her to translate and take away with her as a reference.

On the fourth day they discussed the Vanir language, which had many similarities to the Aesir language.

Obviously she knew everything he was explaining and so she used the opportunity to study him, watching his body language. To be honest, she was starting to like the bastard and each day, she had to remind herself of what he had done to her and Loki. He almost seemed like a different person, but he wasn’t and she would do well not to forget that.

He was the same man who had called for his brother fiancé’s head, _her_ head, when she was innocent of any crime. He had tried to force his affections on her more times than she could count. He had bullied and abused her brother.

Knowing that her time with him was running low, she tried a different tactic over lunch.

“So how much of our Norse Mythology is true?” she asked.

“Some of it,” he admitted, “But even the true stories have much false information.”

“Give me an example, like the Aesir-­Vanir war?”

“That war was begun by my father,” he admitted. “The Vanir were amassing an army to move against Asgard and we took pre-emptive action. Unfortunately, they were more than ready to defend themselves. Many lives were lost, on both sides, but we did eventually come to an accord.”

“What happened?”

“Both sides broke the truce.”

She wanted to slap him, both for accusing the Vanir for moving against Asgard, and leaving out that the Aesir broke the truce by sending a fraud for a wise councillor.

“With the hostages?” That was what Norse Mythology called her and Njord, and those sent to Vanaheim.

“They were not hostages but emissaries, but yes, the Vanir killed one our offering.”

“And the Aesir?”

“We killed their emissaries in retaliation.” He actually looked a little upset when he said that.

“And what happened to the truce?”

“It was maintained, somehow. The Vanir were in no position to continue fighting, and they agreed to Odin’s terms of surrender.”

She notice that he omitted that the Aesir had lied about the emissaries they sent and deceived the Vanir.

“What kind of terms?” she asked.

“Nothing too harsh,” he assured her, although his accompanying smile was weak.

She dare not ask any more in case she pushed her luck too far and he recognised her. They had finished their lunch anyway, so she suggested they get back to work.

On the Friday, Thor explained the Jotun language to her, and he was more adept at it than she remembered.

“You have a talent for languages,” Thor complimented her as they stopped for lunch.

“Thank you. I’ve always studied languages.”

“Any reason?”

“I wanted to be a diplomat,” she answered, then inwardly cursed herself for revealing too much.

“You want to bring peace, that is a noble cause.”

 _‘What the fuck would you know about it,’_ she thought as she turned away, pretending to rifle through her handbag for a tissue.

“Yes, well, it didn’t quite work out as I’d planned.”

“Well if you work for SHIELD, you are protecting the Earth, are you not?”

“I suppose,” she forced a smile onto her lips. “What did you want to be when you grew up?” There, that was a very human question to ask, she thought.

“I always knew I would be a king.”

He had presented her with the perfect opportunity.

“Don’t you have a brother though?”

His smile faltered a little. “I had, yes.”

Her heart stopped beating for a moment. “Had?” she forced herself to ask.

“Loki died, helping me fight the Dark Elves.” 

“I’m so sorry.” She didn’t even have to act that. “Would you excuse me for a moment... bathroom.”

“Yes, of course.”

***

Looking back, Mira would never understand how she made it through the rest of the day without breaking down. Once back at her apartment, she crawled straight into bed and cried until exhaustion claimed her.

The day after was no better and she hardly moved from the bed. Loki was lost to her, forever.

She still didn’t know how she came to be here, or what had happened to her brother, and maybe she never would. Each night as she slept, she recalled a little more of her memories but she had lived for a thousand years, and a human lifetime was less than a hundred. She may never remember what happened that night.

When she didn’t turn up to work, she expected SHIELD to send someone to check on her, but no one ever came.

It surprised her a little, she had made some friends among that small group of misfits, or at least acquaintances that she quite liked, but then, she couldn’t summon the energy to find out why they hadn’t come, so why should she expect them to expend the resources to come and check on her?

After a week without bathing and hardly eating, she seriously began to consider what to do with the rest of her life.

Her dreams of becoming a diplomat were dead. Her new dream of finding Loki was dead, and her idea of reclaiming her immortality was also dead, because there was no point in living forever without him.

So what next?

***

Loki was ready for the next phase of his plan, Odin was gone, the Warriors Three and Sif were off fighting the fire demons, a conflict he had carefully nurtured, now it just remained to avenge himself on Thor by moving against Midgard.

What no one seemed to realise, was that Loki never played a short game, he was always thinking a dozen steps ahead, he even planned for failure, so that he could turn it into a victory. No one had any idea about what really happened during the battle of New York.

*Giving the humans a Kree body hadn’t been his idea, that was a happy accident and he had used that information to his advantage. First he was responsible for SHIELD finding the ancient Kree city, and informing the Kree so that they would send an agent to Earth to wipe out the Inhumans. Then he had ordered Sif following the Kree agent and stop him. Sif was trusted so if she said that humanity was harbouring dangerous Kree experiments, people would believe her. And they did.

To the Aesir, humanity now represented a very real danger, one that his army wouldn’t question wiping out on his order. Thor was working with the organisation that was protecting at least one Inhuman, and thus could now be called an enemy of Asgard, especially since he had given up the throne.

After the Warriors Three had left for Muspelheim, Odin supposedly made a bargain with the Valkyries to restore Loki to life, but without his former desire for vengeance, and so Loki was now heir to the throne. For the past few weeks, Odin had supposedly been schooling him on how to be a good King.

All of Loki’s playing pieces were in place, now it just remained for him to make his move.

In half an hour, Odin would declare he was going to war with Midgard, until they gave up all their genetically engineered Kree experiments. He would lay out the plans he had been discussing with the war council and tomorrow the troops would invade.

Tonight, during the pre battle feast, Loki’s clone, who had been playing the part of Odin on and off, whenever they had to be in the same room together, would fall into the Odin sleep, then Loki would replace the clone with Odin’s real body. It would be a long sleep this time (it had already lasted for months) and Loki would finally be king and make his move on Midgard.

Once Thor was defeated and Earth was his, Loki would awaken Odin for just long enough to see the devastation that his machinations had caused, then Loki would kill him.

He smiled at those he passed as he headed to his chambers, and they smiled back. Thanks to ‘Odin’s’ approval, he had regained the Aesir’s trust.

Once alone in his rooms, he took out a sketch he had done of his beloved.

“Tonight, Little Dove,” he told it. “Starting tonight they will finally begin to pay for what they did to you.”

 ***

SHIELD finally came knocking, looking for Mira but she resigned, refusing to answer any questions. She gave them all of her notes and tapes, then told them to get out.

*Lance Hunter told her how Trent had died and that they needed her help, but she didn’t care. Loki was dead, what did the death of one man she hardly knew mean to her?

Sometimes it felt as if she did nothing but sleep, but she didn’t care.

Depression, humans called it. Well, she supposed she had to resign herself to the fact that she was one of them now, so what did it matter if she was depressed? What meaning was there left in her life now?

She had once tried searching local children’s home records for her brother but, if he had been given another name, as she had, he would be impossible to find. That’s even assuming he was still alive; just because she had escaped, didn’t mean he had too.

And if she did find him, would he even remember her? How much worse would it be to finally find someone to care about, only to be rejected?

These thoughts were distracting her to the point that she didn’t notice the first tremble but the second, larger one, _that_ got her attention. Not that she cared enough to discover what it was. England did have very occasional, mild earthquakes anyway, so she reasoned that that must be what it was.

The screaming at first seemed to be just hysteria, after all, an earthquake in this country had never been large enough to cause any real damage. But the screams persisted, as did the trembling, which was now constant and lasting far longer than she expected an earthquake to last. Soon she could hear the blasts which accompanied the tremors and she went to the window to look out, only to see that everyone was running in the same direction, away from something.

She turned her TV on and the pictures made her heart stutter.

The aircraft flying over the city, firing on Parliament and Buckingham Palace, were Asgardian ships. They were attacking every major city in the world, if the early reports were to be believed.

Odin.

The warmonger and finally chosen another peaceful people to try and conquer. Over her dead body!

***

“Mira, I’m a little busy right now, what did you want?” Coulson spoke into his phone. He knew there was something odd about Mira, he had known it ever since he had first approached her.

The background check revealed that she had suddenly appeared in the foster system at age 17, with falsified records. The blood taken at her annual physical was mostly normal but there was something else in there too, something his people couldn’t determine.  Her psych evaluation had been clean though, and she did excellent work.

“Bring me in,” Mira demanded.

“So now you want back in? Unfortunately, I don’t think we have much use of a translator at the moment.” He wouldn’t have taken the call if it was from anyone else but her, and now he wanted answers.

“Coulson, you bring me in right now!”

“Why?”

“Because I lived on Asgard for 32 years and before that, my people were at war with them. I can help you and if I get the chance, I will personally kill that son of a bitch, Odin, myself.”

“We’ll be by to pick you up in an hour. Stay in your apartment, we’ll call when we’re close.”

***

Mira took a lightning quick shower and washed her greasy hair, settling for towel drying it. Then she dressed in jeans, a shirt, a jumper and hiking boots. She still had time so knowing that she hadn’t eaten properly in weeks, she defrosted some bread and made toast, lots of it.

She was just finishing the last slice when her phone rang. She didn’t bother to alter her appearance this time, the time for secrets was up. Besides, she wanted Odin to know that he had failed to kill her, maybe it would put him off his game a little and give them the advantage.

She ascended to the roof and was winched onto the cloaked plane using ropes.

“It’s nice to see you’re not hiding any more,” Coulson said as he greeted her.

“You knew I was disguising my looks?”

“We had a copy of your picture from the foster system, plus Lance said you’d had an extreme dye job after he visited you. What we didn’t know was if you had undergone plastic surgery or were using some other means. How do you change your look?”

“I have very limited magic.”

“Is that from your race?”

“Yes. I’m-­”

“I’d save the explanations until we’re all together, or this could get repetitive.”

***

Everyone was giving her odd looks, which wasn’t surprising considering how different she looked, so it didn’t particularly bother her.

Around the table were Agent May, Coulson, Fitz, Simmons, Bobbi and last in was Lance.

“Mira, the floor is yours,” Coulson began.

“My name is Nerthus, Goddess of Peace, also known as Little Dove. I was born approximately a thousand of your years ago on Vanaheim. Asgard have declared war on us twice, The first time Frigga was given to Odin as a peace offering but the second time, we were prepared and we fought back. The last war was long and bloody but eventually a peace treaty was reached. My twin brother and I were gifted to Asgard to become advisers, while two of their wisest people were supposed to be given to the Vanir. The idea was to try to integrate our cultures and learn to trust one another again.

“Asgard never had any intention of honouring their side of the bargain though. Rather than becoming advisers to Odin, he gave one of us to each of his sons as warlings-”

“As what?” Lance interrupted.

“A spoil of war, slaves. In return he sent only one wise man to the Vanir, and lied about the value of the other emissary.”

“Which son did you get?” Coulson asked.

“Loki.”

Everyone flinched.

“I got the better end of the bargain,” she assured them. “My brother became an object of ridicule to Thor and his friends, while Loki cared for and trusted me. Thor hated me, he nearly killed me soon after I arrived and I can't tell you how many times I had to fend off unwanted advances.”

“Oh come on, this is Thor,” Jemma Simmons interrupted.

“Had we been on Earth, Thor would be in jail now for multiple crimes. He was so jealous of what I had with Loki, he thought that I had taken his brother away from him, and he took that anger out on my brother, mostly. He was petulant, petty, arrogant and cruel, and I hate that man with _every fibre of my being_.”

Everyone seemed surprised by her vehemence and sensing no more interruptions in defence of Thor, she moved on.

“After thirty years at Loki’s side, we were to marry but the day after our engagement was announced, the Vanir sent the head of one of the false emissaries back to Asgard, and in return Odin and Thor demanded the heads of me and my brother. Frigga, the Queen and also a Vanir, and Loki, pleaded for mercy, stating that Asgard broke the treaty first and that my brother and I had done nothing wrong, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

“Loki tried to rescue us but Thor suspected he might, which would have been treason, so he guarded Loki himself. More than that, I cannot remember.”

“How did you get to earth?” Lance asked.

“I don’t know. For years I thought I was human, just prone to unusual dreams. That’s the only time my past comes back to me; while I sleep. It wasn’t until Loki attacked New York that I realised it wasn’t my imagination. If Loki was real, and he had the face of my fiancé in my dreams, then my dreams were real too.”

“That’s why you left the diplomatic core?” May realised.

“Not consciously, but yes.”

“Why did you press so hard to have a meeting with Thor?” Coulson asked.

“Because I needed to know what had happened to Loki. I knew that if I could find my way back to him, he would find a way to restore my immortality and memories. When I learned that he was dead, I went into something of a tail spin.”

“You do know that Loki is evil, right?” Jemma asked.

“Not the Loki I knew. He was brave and strong. His brother was the danger back then. I don’t know what sent Loki over the edge, I assume he thought I was dead or he would have come and found me, but it has to be more than that. The Loki I knew was bookish and studious, what we’d call a geek. He wasn’t power hungry, and he had long since accepted that Thor would become King, despite not being the best choice for it.”

“Why does Loki care so much about you?” Coulson asked. “Why would he risk treason to save you?”

“Because I was the only person in his life who was truly his. I gave him everything, I trusted him with my life and I was loyal only to him. Loki had always been second to his brother and been bullied for preferring magic to muscle. I was the only person to ever choose him over Thor. It was a strategic choice at first, a way to earn his trust so I could hopefully, somehow still fulfil my mission to become an advisor, even if it was to the prince and not Odin, but we soon fell in love.”

“You said you have magic now,” Coulson continued. “Do you have anything that could help us?”

“I only have access to a tiny fraction of my former power. I can change my appearance, turn invisible for a couple of seconds, levitate a chair, but that’s about it.”

“Okay, well why don’t we get a drink and I’ll see if we have any status updates,” Coulson suggested, and Mira headed for the coffee machine.

“So what do we call you now?” Lance asked. “Nerf-­herder or what?”

“It’s Nerthus,” she smiled. “But Mira is fine. As far as I know, it’s been my name for 30 odd years and for the same before that, everyone called me Dove.”

“Why Dove?”

“White hair and the Goddess of Peace? Plus Loki thought I was tiny, and compared to him, I guess I wa-”­”

As she reached out to grab a cup, May wrapped a handcuff around her wrist and went to punch her in the face, Mira only just had enough warning to duck, and that was thanks to her warrior reflexes.

She blocked the next blow too.

“What the hell!” she demanded.

“Nothing personal,” May said, aiming a kick at her head.

Mira began to fight back and quickly realised that she was handcuffed to May, which made fighting rather difficult. She focused her magic on the chain that connected them and snapped it, then using a combination of magic blasts and fighting, she knocked May unconscious. Bobbi was next and she tag teamed with Lance.

“What the hell is this?” she demanded.

“I thought you were the goddess of peace!” Lance said as she backhanded him over the table.

“There’s more than one way to secure peace,” she assured him, blocking Bobbi’s next blow. “What do you think I did for a thousand years, sat around, painting my nails?”

Despite not having fought for years, she was doing well, clearly she still had the muscle memory but unfortunately, she didn’t count on Coulson, who shot her in the back with stun gun.

It didn’t take effect immediately and she turned to him.

“What the hell?”

“I’m sorry, Mira, we need to trade you for­-”

She collapsed before she could hear the end of that sentence.

 ***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously, on Agent's of Shield: Blood from a Kree body (the same race as Ronan from Guardians of the Galaxy. No, we don't know how it got to Earth) was used to bring Coulson back to life after Loki killed him (codename Project Tahiti). It was later used on Agents of SHIELD to save Skye's life. It gave Coulson (and others who has been revived with Kree blood) visions of Kree markings, which turned out to be a map to am ancient Kree city on Earth. Inhumans are genetically engineered, superpowered humans, made by the kree aeons ago to act as soldiers in a war they were fighting. That's also why there is an ancient Kree city on Earth where a Kree relic turned Skye into an Inhuman and killed Trent. The Kree have supposedly become more civilised recently (other than Ronan) and sent an Kree man to earth to wipe the Inhumans out. Asgard (which must mean Loki right now) sent Sif down to stop him. Once she realised why he was there though, they ended up being on the same side, because Inhumans are dangerous and just plane wrong (they are the result of experiments, don't forget) but Coulson talked Sif out of killing them, saying it was humanity's problem (but mainly because he didn't want his agent killed) and he wiped the memory of the Kree agent so he would forget that he had failed to wipe the inhumans out, but Sif reported her findings to Asgard.
> 
> Sif returns to Asgard and reports to "Odin" and Loki now had his excuse to invade Midgard, because they are harbouring dangerous, superpowered beings.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

When Mira awoke she was lying on a couch with Asgardian handcuffs on, which nullified her already limited powers. Her head was pounding and she was afraid to open her eyes to the light because of it, but she remembered the fight.

“Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” she asked.

“I am sorry, Dove.”

Although her muscles screamed in protest, her fight or flight instinct kicked in and she sat bolt upright to find herself facing Thor.

“So what, you’re finally taking me home to be executed?” she felt the bitter sting of tears in her eyes and frantically blinked them back.

“No. I heard everything you said in there and you were right about me, I was jealous of you and Loki, and I was cruel and arrogant.”

“I also said petulant.”

“That too. I am truly sorry for what I put you and Loki through.”

“If that were true, I wouldn’t be wearing handcuffs.” Seeing no immediate way out of this, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, trying to quieten the pounding in her head.

“I’m afraid I have to trade you.”

“You know what, Thor, fuck off. You and your fucking family have brought me and my people nothing but pain and betrayal. You’re about as trustworthy as a rattle snake, I wouldn’t believe anything you said anyway.”

“Loki is alive.”

That got her attention and her head shot up so fast it made her dizzy.

“There is much I need to explain to you, events that happened after you were executed. Well, after we thought you had been executed.”

She regarded him with a cool eye.

“Go on,” she eventually said.

“On the day of my coronation, Loki let the Frost Giants into Asgard and I reacted poorly. I broke the peace treaty we had with Jotunheim and for that, I was banished to Earth. Here is where I learned the humility that you had previously given my brother. While we fought on Jotunheim, Loki had discovered that they couldn’t burn him with their touch and when they tried, his skin turned blue, like theirs. He confronted our father and discovered that he was not Odin’s true son but the son of King Laufey, left to die because he was a runt. My father had taken him from Jotunheim as a baby, with the intention of using him to unite the civilisations one day.”

So many things began to make sense, why Loki had so much magical ability, why Odin always favoured Thor, why Loki never felt he fit in. She remembered how the Frost Giants were viewed on Asgard, as animals, brutes and monsters. How must he have felt to suddenly learn he was one of them?

“Father fell into the Odin sleep while I was banished so Loki became king in my stead, and he used his new power to try to finish what I had started. He killed Laufey and tried to destroy Jotunheim, and I had to stop him. As we fought, he told me that he had never wanted to be king, he had only ever wanted to be my equal.”

Thor actually sounded remorseful and tears fell from Mira’s eyes as she imagined Loki’s plight.

“At the end of our struggle, Loki fell into the void and we all thought him dead.”

“The void?” she whispered, wondering how long he floated there, all alone, so cold that it would be painful, even for a Frost Giant, and falling through debris that would cut and tear at his skin. It was a miracle he had survived at all.

“When Loki reappeared on Earth, he appeared to have made a bargain with Thanos and sought revenge for all his wrongs. He wished to rule the Earth as revenge on me, I had grown to love it during my banishment here.”

“Thanos?”

“Yes. Do you know of him?”

“The Mad Titan, of course. Don’t you?”

“We know of him, but little is known of substance.”

“He stole the mind stone from my people eons ago and killed half our civilisation in the process. If only a fraction of what we believe is true, Thanos is malevolence personified.”

She closed her eyes, as if she could somehow shut out the horrors that Thanos must have visited on Loki.

“That might explain the drastic change in Loki when he appeared on Earth. He is not the man you once knew, Dove.”

“Don’t call me that. Only people I like get to call me that.”

“I apologise.”

“Go on with your story,” she said, refusing to open her eyes.

“Loki was imprisoned for his crimes against humanity but when the Aether was let loose, it infected Jane Foster.”

“Your human.”

“Yes. I took her to Asgard but Father said nothing could be done for her. The Dark Elves attacked and killed our mother.”

“Frigga is dead?” Would the horror never end?

“Yes, I’m sorry, I know you were close to her.”

Thor seemed to have to choke back some emotion himself but Mira knew that Loki had been much closer to their mother than Thor was.

“Our father insisted on keeping Jane on Asgard, where either the Aether would eventually kill her, or the Elves would. I could not accept that and so broke Loki out of the dungeon to help me spirit Jane off world and defeat the Dark Elves. He died protecting Jane and I.”

“You just said he was alive.” She opened her eyes and glared at him.

“He is. I managed to speak with an Einherjar soon after the attack on London began, and he told me that when I refused to take the throne, Odin made a deal with the Valkyries and somehow brought Loki back.”

“You sound sceptical.”

“I am, it is all a little _too_ convenient. According to the man I spoke with, Odin declared war on the Earth last night for harbouring Inhumnans, genetically modified beings made by the Kree.”

“I know what they are.”

“Of course. Yesterday Father was supposed to have laid out his plans for invading Earth and last night, he fell into the Odin sleep, leaving Loki to carry out his plans. This alone would not be enough to disbelieve the tale, except that Loki’s first act here was to kidnap Jane Foster.”

“He won’t hurt her,” Mira asserted.

“You cannot possibly know this.”

“The Loki I knew loved you, even if he didn’t like you very much, and you yourself said that he protected you and Jane against the dark elves. Name me one other Aesir who would protect a human?”

“Loki is not-­”

“Oh shut up! He was raised by _your people_ , he looks like _your people_ , and clearly he doesn’t relate to the Jotun since _he tried to kill them_. Maybe it suits you to disown him but obviously he hasn’t disowned you, even after _everything_ you and your family did to him.”

“I hope your faith in him is justified, because I intend to use you as a bargaining chip to get Loki to return Jane and leave the Earth.”

Mira gave him a pitying look.

“You do not believe my plan will work?”

“I think it’ll work. What saddens me is that after everything, you still don’t understand him, do you? You never have.”

“I have wronged Loki I accept that, but it is no excuse for his actions.”

“You committed treason to protect Jane. What ends might you have been driven to if your father had executed her? Everything you’ve told me happened after I left so yeah, you can blame Loki if you want to, or you can realise that you caused all of this. You drove him to it when he thought you had murdered me.”

Thor didn’t answer but after a moment, he looked away.

“Perhaps you are right.”

Mira sighed. “Did anyone even ask Loki why he was working with Thanos?”

“No, but he also didn’t say.”

“Why would he? What was he to expect from you and Odin? Trust? Respect? Justice? Decency? You killed the woman he loved just to be vindictive and what you Aesir fail to realise, sitting up there on your high horse, is that a villain is just a victim whose story hasn't been told. If Loki is a monster, he’s the monster you and your father shaped him into.”

“Perhaps it is so,” Thor surprised her by agreeing. “But my immediate problem is protecting Jane and the Earth.”

“Of course it is.” She shook her head.

“What would you have me do?”

“Are you serious about ending the conflict?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t mean the war with Asgard, I mean you and Loki. Do you want to reconcile with him?”

“I would, very much so, but I fear it is hopeless.”

“Then give me to Loki as a peace offering. It would be the first step towards reconciling.”

“Then he would have you _and_ Jane. I cannot risk it.”

“I didn’t think so.” She lay down on the sofa again and closed her eyes. “Now if you don’t mind, I have a pounding headache and would love some peace and quiet.”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot leave you alone.”

“Worried I’ll escape?”

“The humans are, yes.”

Mira gave a wry smile. “You’re taking me back to Loki, which is the only place I have ever wanted to be.”

***

“My King,” the Einherjar dropped to his knee before Loki.

Loki had taken up residence in the Shard in London, the tallest building in the city. The views were incredible, but he didn’t exactly have the time to appreciate them right now.

“What is it?”

“The broadcasts are saying that SHIELD are requesting a meeting with you in Trafalgar Square this evening.”

“Are they now,” he mused. “Is Jane Foster still secured?”

“She is, my Lord.”

“Then I think I’ll go and surprise them.”

He closed his eyes and projected a vision onto the SHIELD plane. As soon as he appeared, at least four guns were aimed at his projection and he laughed. Even if he was there in person, their guns couldn’t hurt him.

“Is that any way to greet an invited guest?” he chided.

No one replied.

“I’m sorry, did you believe that your mechanised invisibility protected you from me?”

“Not really, no,” said a new voice as Agent Coulson entered from the next room. He didn’t bother to draw a weapon.

“I thought I’d killed you already,” Loki sounded peeved.

“Yeah, you’ll have to try harder next time,” Coulson quipped.

“Oh, I will,” Loki smiled. “So, I assume you wish to discuss your unconditional surrender?”

“Actually no. We’d like to discuss yours.”

Loki laughed. “I do so enjoy the Midgardian sense of humour.”

“It’s not a joke,” Coulson assured him.

Thor came into the room through the same door Coulson had.

“He is serious, Loki,” Thor levelled a glare at his brother.

“Is he? Pray tell, what exactly makes you think you have any power to make demands of me?”

Thor held the door he had entered through open and May came in with Mira, a gun held to her head.

Loki’s face blanched of what little colour it had.

“Little Dove,” he whispered.

“Loki,” she tried to smile at him through her tears.

His features hardened as he glared at Thor. “This is a trick. You took from me the only person who ever loved me above you, and now you seek to use her memory against me!”

“This is no trick, Brother, I was as surprised as you to find her on Midgard.”

May jammed the gun hard into Mira’s skull, making her cry out.

Loki glared at the agent. “If she is who you say she is, you would be wise to treat her with more respect.”

May urged Mira forward. “Talk.” She demanded, jabbing her with the barrel of the gun again.

“It’s me, Loki,” Mira managed to say. “I don’t know how I escaped, I don’t have all my memories. I’m human now, or mortal, at least, and I think someone suppressed my memories but I never forgot you, I dreamed about you every night but it wasn’t until you came to New York that I realised you were real. Ever since then I’ve been trying to find you.”

Loki seemed thoroughly disconcerted. “This is a trick, some kind of illusion.”

“No trick, Loki.”

“Prove it. Prove to me that you are my Little Dove.”

Mira frantically searched her memory for a fact or event that only they had shared, but it was hard to think with a gun to her head.

She turned to May, who was gripping her arm.

“Let me go.”

May didn’t move.

“This isn’t Loki, it’s a projection, he can't do anything to me.”

“Let her go,” Coulson instructed May. “Our bullets might not mean much to Loki, but she’s mortal and a bullet will affect her. He won’t try anything with her life at stake.”

May released Mira’s arm but kept the gun aimed at her head as she stepped away.

Mira took three paces towards Loki, smiling as she took in his features for the first time in years. It was hard to resist the urge to reach out and touch him, even though she knew he wasn’t real.

She got down on her knees before him, pressed her forehead to the floor and crossed her wrists as best she could with the cuffs on.

Loki gasped and took a step backwards.

May and Lance hauled Mira to her feet and pulled her away from Loki, May’s gun pressed to her head once more.

“Withdraw your troops,” Coulson repeated. “Then we’ll discuss an exchange of hostages.”

As his astral projection faded into nothing, Loki’s gaze stayed fixed on Mira until the last moment.

“What the bloody hell was that?” Lance demanded of Mira.

“Something only Loki and I know about,” was all she would say.

***

Loki paced the penthouse apartment like a caged lion, trying to either find a way to get Dove back, or to reason himself out of caring.

He did care though, and no matter how hard his heart was now, she had wormed her way inside long before it became impenetrable.

The trouble was, every plan he thought of to kill the humans and take her back, risked killing her too.

“You sent for me, my Lord,” the Einherjar commander said as he got down on one knee.

Loki fought with himself for a moment longer but he knew it was useless. His plan had been doomed from the moment he set eyes on her.

“Order the troops to stand down,” he barked. “I want them back in Asgard within the hour.”

“My lord?”

“Do it!”

“Yes, my Lord, but we have troops in every major city on Midgard, an hour is not long enough for them all to return.”

“Make sure it’s done or your head will roll.”

The guard trembled. “Yes, Sire.”

Loki turned away and went to the window to gaze out over London.

Fundamental facts that he took for granted about his life had once again changed, and his world had tilted on its axis again.

Losing Dove had been the start of everything. Vengeance for her was the reason he let the Frost Giants into Asgard on the morning of Thor’s coronation and it was the event that precipitated every action Loki had taken since. He couldn’t help but wonder how his life might have been different if he had known that she had survived, and that she was waiting for him to come and find her.

That begged the question, how had she survived?

Thor had seen to it that his rescue attempt was doomed and he had watched the next morning as she was beheaded in front of him. It had taken twenty guards, plus Thor, to restrain him that day.

He didn’t speak a single word to Thor for over two years. He didn’t speak a single word to anyone for well over a month, staying locked in his rooms, torturing himself with memories of his Little Dove. She had trusted him with her life, and he had failed her.

And now she was back.

He needed to be alone with Dove for a while, to reconnect, as well as restore her immortality and memories, but he couldn’t just abandon the throne. He also couldn’t very well wake Odin up to rule in his stead either, since he would be tried for treason.

Thor would want to return to Asgard too, Loki was sure of it, and he would want answers as to why Asgard had declared war on Midgard. Loki had fooled the populace but he had a feeling that Thor would be harder to convince.

It would take some very fancy footwork on his part to remain one step ahead but truly, all he wanted was to be alone with Dove for a while.

Of course, there was no saying that she would still be his. So much had changed since the day he believed her dead, and he knew that many of his actions would be unforgivable to his Little Dove. She was the Goddess of Peace, after all, while he had become a warmonger, much like Odin before him. Dove had never harboured much, if any affection for his so ­called father, and she had even less respect for the man.

He still remembered when she gave herself to him, he relived that moment often. She had said it was because he was ‘someone worth belonging to’ and he ‘deserved’ to own her.

She surely couldn’t feel that way any longer, not after everything he had done. Even facing her inevitable rejection though, he had to know she was safe. She probably didn’t know much of what he had done, and she surely didn’t know he was a Jotun but maybe, just maybe, her assuming the submissive position he liked her in was a sign. Either way, he hadn’t saved her the first time, he owed her a rescue.

He had planned this invasion ten steps in advance, accounting for all possible eventualities, but he had never anticipated that the entire rules of the game might change.

There was nothing else for it though, he was going to have to ‘wing it’ as the dreadful saying went.

***

“94% of the alien ships have left the Earth orbit,” Bobbi told Coulson. They had moved to a disused STRIKE base under London, an underground emergency bunker in a former tube station, from where they could monitor events topside.

“Good. We’d better try and contact Loki and arrange a meeting point for the hostage exchange. Any ideas, Thor?”

“Somewhere remote is best,” Thor suggested.

“I don’t _think_ that’s going to be necessary,” Lance offered. “The perimeter sensors just picked up movement.” He turned the cameras on so they could see Loki and Jane walking down the stairs, towards the base.

“May, go get Mira. Keep your gun on her until all the ships have left, only then will we make the exchange.” He turned to Bobbi. “Keep the doors locked until we have confirmation that all spacecraft have gone.”

Bobbi watched on camera as Loki and Jane approached the door, a four ton, steel reinforce hatch that could withstand a nuclear bomb, if necessary, and after a cursory look, Loki opened it with a tap from his golden sceptre.

“Uh, sir?” Bobbi directed Coulson’s attention to the image on screen.

“96%” Lance called out.

May returned with Mira in tow.

“Lance, you tell me the moment the last ship is clear, do you understand?”

He nodded.

“Thor, May, let’s go greet our guest.”

“I know I have no choice here, but it’s still nice to be asked,” Mira spat. Being pulled about like a rag doll by people she had considered her colleagues, was really starting to piss her off.

“I’m truly sorry it had to come to this, Mira,” Coulson said with his usual cool demeanour.

“If I had realised what a bastard you were, I would have told you how to read the Kree symbols months ago.”

“You could read them?”

“Enough to know I was looking at a map.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because you’re just stupid enough to fool around with things you have no business getting involved with and if you think Loki is bad, you haven’t seen anything. The Kree will make him look like a cuddly grandfather in comparison.”

“Thanks for the warning. Let’s go.”

When Jane spotted Thor, she made to run towards him but Loki waved his hand and she froze in place beside him.

The two groups were standing on either end of the entrance corridor, twenty five feet separating them.

“Jane, are you hurt?” Thor asked.

She opened her mouth but no sound came out, so she shook her head instead.

“Not a scratch on her,” Loki assured him, “though it’s more than you deserve. I can see that you did not show the same courtesy to your hostage.” His gaze as he took in Mira’s bruised cheekbone, was chilling.

Coulson spoke into an intercom. “Status report?”

“97%” Lance’s disembodied voice replied.

“The ships are almost gone,” Thor tried to reason with Coulson. “Let us make the trade.”

“They could come back,” Phil argued.

“They could return even once they are all gone, however I have a feeling that Loki’s priorities have changed, have they not, Brother?”

“I have no further designs against Midgard,” Loki assured them.

Coulson considered for a moment. “Make the trade.”

“Release Jane and I will release Mira at the same time,” May instructed.

“Remove her handcuffs first,” Loki commanded.

May looked to Coulson and after his affirmative nod, Thor removed them. “One hundred percent,” Lance’s voice came through the intercom.

“Just in time,” Coulson smiled. “Release the hostages.”

May let Mira go and she took one, hesitant step forward. Jane did the same and as they walked, they matched each other, step for step, both aware that one wrong move could trigger hostilities. They sped up as they approached the half way point and once they had passed each other, they broke into a run.”

Loki swept Mira into his arms and held her tightly, smiling slightly as Thor tried to do the same to Jane, only to have the illusion dissipate.

“Loki!” he roared.

Coulson and May pulled their guns and began to fire. Mira flinched but the bullets rebounded off the magical forcefield that Loki had erected around them. Loki waited until the shooting had ceased for a moment before he spoke.

“One day, Brother, you’ll learn not to take things at face value.” And with a shimmer of green light, he and Mira disappeared.

***

Safe in his penthouse sanctuary, which was well protected with magic, Mira clung to Loki as if for dear life but in reality, she had never felt safer.

“For the longest time, I thought you were a dream,” she told him, her voice choked with emotion. “I’m so sorry I left you. I didn’t know you were real. I didn’t know.”

Loki closed his eyes and drank in the feel of her in his arms once more, where she belonged.

“You’re home now, Little Dove.”

Mira suddenly pulled away enough to press her lips to his jaw, kissing her way to his lips. His hand grabbed a handful of her hair and he pressed her against him with such force that she knew her lips would be swollen and bruised.

She didn’t care.

Their clothes dissolved with a flash of magic as he lifted her up, then he was surging into her, filling her completely.

She wasn’t ready and she gave a muffled moan of pain but he didn’t stop and she didn’t want him to. She needed him to reclaim her and his primordial passion was stamping his ownership back on her with every thrust.

Her legs wrapped around his waist as he pressed her up against the closest wall, forcing himself against her so hard that it was as if he was trying to join with her completely, not just at the pelvis. As her juices began to flow, his thrusts became easier but no less forceful and he changed the angle of her hips slightly, so his pelvis hit her clitoris with each thrust.

She screamed into their kiss when she came, and Loki followed soon after, spilling his seed inside her.

The coupling has been brief but as they stood, foreheads touching, they were both covered in perspiration and panting heavily.

“Little Dove,” he whispered.

“I’m here.”

“Don’t ever leave me again.”

“I won’t, I promise.”

When Loki’s breathing had slowed somewhat, he pulled back to look at her and noticed that her lip was bleeding.

“Did I hurt you?” He suddenly seemed worried. “I forgot you were mortal now.”

“I’m fine,” she assured him, pushing his long hair back from his face so she could better look at him.

He touched one hand to the side of her face and healed her cut lip, as well as the bruises that SHIELD had given her.

If he could have, he would have stayed like that forever, but he had limited time and a truly loving reunion would have to wait.

He pulled out of her and settled her feet back on the ground, holding her for a few moments until he was sure her legs would not give out.

“Come, we must bathe, then there is much to do.” She nodded and followed after him to the shower.

As tempting as it might have been to take her again, he refrained as they soaped each other up.

“How long was I gone?” she asked, washing his chest and pressing the occasional kiss on his skin.

“Do you not remember?”

“I have human memories from infancy but I don’t know what’s real and what’s false.”

“Nine years,” he answered. “How much has Thor told you about me?” he asked, turning away from her.

“I know you’re Jotun. I know you fell from the bifrost, and that you tried to take over the Earth under Thanos.” She put her arms around his waist and kissed his back. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that alone.”

He half turned back to her.

“Do you not hate me?”

“I could never hate you, Loki.”

“I’m a monster.”

“No.” she reached up and cupped his cheek. “You did monstrous things, yes, but _you_ are not a monster.”

“You haven’t seen my true face,”

“I don’t care what your face looks like. I care what’s in here,” she put her other hand on his chest, resting over his heart. “I’ve seen your heart, remember? I don’t care what face you wear, what planet you come from, or what deeds you’ve done.”

“I’m not the man you once knew.”

“I know, but ‘ _love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds’_. There is nothing you could do that will make me stop loving you. I might disagree with you, I might try to stop you, but I will _always_ love you.”

He closed his eyes as his tears fell and he held her tightly once more.

“Let me worship you,” she whispered, and he released her so that she could get on her knees.

He was ready, in fact he had never softened, and as she looked up at him from her knees, eager to please him, even though he knew he’d been too rough with her earlier, he closed his eyes in shame.

She had given herself to him but he wasn’t worthy of her, not any more and honestly, he wasn’t sure if he ever could be again.

For a few blissful minutes, she made him forget everything, but he couldn’t hide in her love forever.

He couldn’t lose her again either so somehow, he had to find a way out of the problems that he had not accounted for, a solution that kept them both free.

***

“Tell me, what do you know of how you got here?” Loki asked.

He had the ability to make her immortal, especially with the power of Gungnir to call on, but before he could return her immortality and memories, he had to know as much as possible. If, for example, a shapeshifting spell had turned her human rather than an exile curse, he could damage her memories and she might never get her past back.

“We, Njord and I escaped the cell when you brought the forcefield down-­”

“I did no such thing,” Loki looked horrified. “Thor cornered me as soon as I left your cell that afternoon and I did not have a chance to enact any of my plan.”

“Someone was helping from the start then.”

“So it would seem.”

Frigga was his most likely candidate to have saved her and for his own good, he could just about understand her keeping it a secret from him, because he would have pursued Little Dove to Midgard and back had he known that she still lived.

“We went straight to your quarters but someone else was there. I don’t know who though, I could only see an outline. They told me that you had been restrained and that’s my last memory. I remember thinking that it was a trap but I don’t know any more than that.”

Loki considered what he had told her.

“Whoever sent me here though, I think they’re a friend of yours.”

“A friend?” he frowned. “Explain.”

“I didn’t think anything of it when I was younger but when I realised my dreams were real, I began to question everything that I took for granted, including my name. Mira is Slavic in origin and means peace. Aves means birds so my name here still means bird of peace. Only someone who cared about you would give me a human version of your pet name, no?”

Frigga was seeming more and more likely as a candidate but while a talented sorceress, she did not have the power to strip someone of their immortality. At least, not as far as he had ever known. “What of your biology?”

“What about it?”

“How human are you? Have you ever received medical treatment here?”

“Nothing serious,” she sighed, wondering how easy it would be to now get a full body CT scan or something. “Wait, when I was at University, I used to donate blood.”

“I don’t understand?”

“Human blood is interchangeable, within a few different blood types, so some healthy people donate blood to be given to others who have accidents and lose large amounts, or to help treat some kinds of illnesses.”

“How very barbaric,” Loki looked appalled. “And human blood differs from Vanir blood, I take it?”

“Of course, so I must be pretty much human, not just a mortal Vanir.”

They discussed a few ideas but came to no concrete conclusions.

“I think we just have to risk it,” Mira suggested. “Pick the method you think best fits and reverse it.”

“You still have some, very limited magic, therefore you were not banished and stripped of everything,” Loki reasoned. “Also, you appear entirely human, therefore your immortality was not simply taken away and you made mortal, or you would still have Vanir biology. I believe shapeshifting magic was used on you, then your immortality was removed, then your memories tampered with. Three separate spells.”

“Then reverse it.” She told him.

“If I’m wrong-­”

“I won’t be any worse off than I am now.”

He considered her argument for a moment longer, then nodded.

“Lie along the sofa and place your head in my lap,” he said, picking Gungnir up so he could draw on its power. With the sceptre in his right hand, he placed his left on Mira’s forehead.

“This will likely hurt, at least for a moment,” Loki cautioned.

“Do it,” she told him, determined to endure a week of pain if she had to, it was worth it to get her life back.

The pain was excruciating, like being electrocuted and although it was short lived, it robbed her of consciousness for a time.

***

Mira awoke in a strange bedroom.

“Oh, thank God you’re awake, I began to think he might have really hurt you.”

A woman leaned over her.

“Are you okay?”

“I have a headache,” she said, sitting up in the bed, “but that’s all.”

She looked over to her companion. “You’re Jane Foster.”

“Yeah.” She looked nonplussed. “Do I know you?”

“No, but I’ve been following your work for a while.” She coughed and Jane retrieved a glass of water from the bedside table, handing it to her as she sat on the edge of the bed.

“Here.”

“Thank you.” Mira drank gratefully. “How long was I out?”

“About three hours, I think.”

As she sat there, she realised she felt different. Her body felt as though it was thrumming with energy, almost as if she were vibrating on a molecular level or something.

Although she hadn’t missed it, she recognised it for what it was immediately, her magic was back, at full strength. As a Vanir, she had always had magic so the sensation was normal. As a human, she couldn’t remember how it felt to be Vanir, so she hadn’t missed it. Now she couldn’t believe that she had lived 1000 years not appreciating this sensation.

“How long have you been in here?” she asked Jane.

“About two days, I think.”

“Where’s Loki?”

“I don’t know. He comes to check on you every half hour or so, but he tasked me with looking after you.”

“Then let’s go find him. I have to know what’s going on.” Mira swing her legs out of bed and headed to the door.

“Loki has put some kind of spell on the room, we can’t get out.”

Mira could feel the magic as she touched the door handle and although her first attempt failed, her second didn’t and the lock clicked open.

“How did you do that?” Jane asked.

“Loki isn’t the only one with magic any more. Come on.”

Jane quickly followed her out of the room, although unlike Mira, she walked close to the walls, hiding.

Mira found Loki in the lounge, looking out over the dark city but as she went to walk into the room, Jane grabbed her hand, trying to pull her back.

“He won’t hurt me,” she assured Jane. “Come on. You’ve met the monster, now meet the man.” When Jane looked over, Loki had turned to them.

“Are you well?” he asked, stepping forward and appearing worried.

“It’s early days but I think so.” She turned to Jane and tried to urge her into the room.

“Are you crazy, he’ll kill me!”

“No, he won’t,” Mira assured her.

“You can’t know that!”

“I do know that.” Mira turned back to Jane and took both her hands.

“How?”

“Because Loki knows what it’s like to lose the woman you love. As much as he hates Thor, he still loves him and he won’t do to you what Thor tried to do to me.”

“Wait, what?”

“For almost a decade, Loki thought I was dead, because Thor wanted me out of the way.”

“Thor would never do that,” Jane argued.

“Thor did do that, Jane, he did it to me. I will admit, the man I met doesn’t much resemble the Thor I used to know, but he _did_ have me and my brother put to death, even although we had done nothing wrong, and he did it because Loki and I were getting married and he was jealous that I had taken Loki away from him.”

Jane was stepping away. “No.”

“Jane, you’re a scientist, you listen to reason, not emotion. Listen to reason now. Stay and hear what’s happening.”

“I can’t.”

“Put her back in the bedroom,” Loki ordered. “She is on Thor’s side.”

“With all due respect, Loki, no. One of you has to have faith in the other to make the first move but you don’t trust Thor and he doesn’t trust you. So trust Jane. Thor listens to her, just like you listen to me.”

“She will not plead my case to my brother and even if she tries, he won’t listen,” Loki scoffed.

“How do you know?”

“Because she’s Midgardian! He doesn’t respect mortals, he never has.”

“Thor has changed, Loki, he’s not the man you remember.”

“Really? Because I remember him nearly killing you with Mjolnir, just because he couldn’t beat me in a fight. I remember him pleading with father to kill you because your people had discovered Odin’s deception! And I remember him holding you hostage, beaten black and blue, just six hours ago. Has he really changed, Dove?”

“For once, Thor didn’t hurt me, SHIELD did that, and he held me hostage because you held Jane hostage. This tit for tat has to stop, Loki. Thor was a huge ass when we were together on Asgard, yes, and I hated him for how he treated you and my brother, but he’s not the arrogant man you remember.” 

“I wish I could be as sure as you are. Unfortunately, I’m not, so Jane must remain a prisoner.”

“Fine, keep her here for now, but don’t lock her away, let her listen to us."

“No,” he stepped right up to Dove and glared at her.

“Yes.”

Loki narrowed his eyes. “I think you have forgotten who you belong to.”

“I haven’t, Loki, I love you now and I always will. I swore I would never leave your side and I won’t, but I love you that’s why I want to put an end to the war you seem determined to keep waging.”

“And how exactly do you intend to do that?”

“Have you forgotten that I’m the Goddess of Peace?”

Jane had edged away to the doorway again and glanced down the corridor. She could see what might be an entrance door and was considering making a run for it.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Jane,” Loki said, not even sparing her a glance.

She gave up thoughts of escape for now and focused on their discussion.

“She thinks she can escape from a God,” he told Mira. “And you think she should sit in on our discussion?”

“If mortals are so useless, then where is the harm?” Mira countered. Loki finally spared a glare for Jane before turning back to Mira.

“Fine, but when she ruins my plans, it will be you I look to punish.”

Jane seemed surprised when Mira grinned.

“Promises, promises.” She looked at Jane and held her hand out. “Come closer, he won’t hurt you.”

“Says who?” Loki countered.

“Loki, please, behave.” She led Jane over to the huge L-­shaped couch and sat down with her, gesturing for Loki to do the same. “Now please, tell me what prompted you to invade Earth.”

Loki glanced at Jane once more, then evidently dismissed her as he sat down and looked to Mira.

“Thor, of course. He took everything I loved from me, I intended to take everything he loved away too.”

“Yet Jane still lives.”

“Only until the invasion was complete.”

“And now that you have me back, can’t we end this feud?”

“It’s not that simple,” Loki sighed. “My return from the grave was not so miraculous as everyone believes.

“I didn’t think it was, so why are we still here and not back on Asgard?”

“Because while I have Jane, Thor is effectively neutered but if I go back to Asgard, he will follow.”

“And what don’t you want him to find there?”

“Odin. He is not in the Odin sleep, but under a sleeping curse.”

“And he will imprison you for treason,” Mira surmised.

“He will kill me, as he once tried to kill you. Once I would have welcomed it but now? I will be damned if he will take my happiness away from me when I have just got it back, a happiness he stole.”

“Okay, I understand that,” Mira nodded, assimilating this new information but without any of the judgement Loki expected.

“Do you have any bright ideas, because I’m afraid your arrival rather threw my original plans into disarray,” Loki asked in a wry tone.

“Why haven’t you killed Odin?”

Loki seemed taken aback by the question and it took him a moment before answering.

“I couldn’t kill him until I had made it seem as if he had brought me back.”

“Yes you could, you’re a skilled strategist, Loki, and I know you can make clones with the ability to act autonomously, certainly well enough to lie asleep in your absence. Besides, why not kill him when he fell into the Odin sleep the first time, after you discovered that Odin had taken you from your people as a baby?”

“Because…”

“Because you still want his love and respect.”

“I want nothing from that man!” he hissed, glaring daggers at her. “He stole me from my home, lied to me about my identity, made me believe I had a chance at being Thor’s equal, and raised me to think of my race as monsters! _He_ is the monster!”

“Loki,” her expression was full of compassion. “The Jotun aren’t monsters and Odin should never have allowed you to believe they were but right now, you _are_ the monster.”

“If I am a monster, then I am the monster _HE_ made me!”

“And I don’t deny that, but you’re still allowing him to control your life. Odin is a giant dickhead who wouldn’t know good parenting if it buggered him up the arse, but you still allow his actions to control your life.”

“I don’t­”

“You’re here for revenge, because Odin favoured Thor, because Odin listened to Thor over you and Frigga, but the only real reason you hate Thor, is because Odin favoured _him_. Don’t let Odin decide your emotions and your relationships for you, you’re better than that.”

Jane was now listening with rapt attention, both interested and horrified by what she was hearing.

Then suddenly Loki’s posture seemed to sag and he looked away. “There’s no other choice, we will have to flee to one of the outer realms, somewhere we cannot easily be found, perhaps one of the Nova Corp worlds. I can shield us from Heimdall’s sight and we might be able to live out our lives in relative safety there.”

“Loki, there’s something you should know. I regained my memories, I know who saved my life.”

He turned to look at her, interest in his eyes once more.

“How did you escape? Who was it in my room that night? Was it Frigga?”

“No, Loki. It was Thor and Odin.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

“Lies!” Loki spat. “Thor was guarding me right up until your execution, ensuring I didn’t have a chance to rescue you. Neither of us slept a single wink that night and he never left my presence.”

“It wasn’t that Thor and Odin who rescued me,” Mira patiently explained, not at all upset by Loki’s anger. “They were from the future.”

Loki glared for a few more moments, then he began to bark with mirthless laughter, but Jane couldn’t see the humour in this.

“Whatever was done to your brain had obviously caused more damage than I suspected,” he scoffed.

“I was sceptical at the time too, but they showed me the time infinity stone that they used.”

Loki shook his head but he didn’t respond.

“I speak the truth, Loki, and I can prove it. They knew you wouldn’t believe me, so they gave me something of yours.”

“What?”

“I hid it back on Asgard, along with relics to convince Thor and Odin that I’m telling the truth.”

Loki considered her for a moment.

“Say I believe you, why would Odin travel through time to rescue someone that he gave to me as a spoil of war?”

“Odin did so for strategic reasons. They wouldn't tell me everything because they couldn’t risk my changing their past too much, but what they did say is that in the near future, Thanos presents a very real danger to all the nine realms.”

Loki stiffened at the mention of his name.

“I fail to see how I­-”

“You will die, Loki. In the original timeline, you will die when Thanos attacks.”

“Why should I believe they will care?”

“They both seemed upset by your demise, Thor especially so. According to what they said, in this present conflict with Earth, you succeeded but when Thanos attacked later, you joined forces with Thor and awoke Odin to help repel him. But you were hard and unreasonable and… you fell in the first battle, before they could get any detailed intelligence from you about your time with Thanos.”

“I still fail to see how saving your life alters that.”

“It was Thor’s suggestion, and he told me that asking for my execution was his biggest regret. He said that the hardening of your heart began that day. He said that not only did you lose me, but he lost you too. You pretended to be his friend but looking back, he could see that you never were, not after that.”

“So why not halt the execution altogether?”

Her eyes actually filled with tears. “Thor wanted that, he and Odin spent quite a bit of time arguing in front of me, but Odin said that if you didn’t think I had died, you might never have fallen into the void and encounter Thanos. Thor tried to argue that maybe you were what brought the 9 realms to Thanos' attention, but he was unmoveable on that point. Odin carefully manipulated my mind to allow my memories to seep out only during slumber, and the memory of meeting him in your room would remain hidden until I was restored, then he made me human and sent me to Earth. I guess he assumed I would recognise you during the attack on New York, which I did. He said he hoped that being reunited with me would make you rational enough to survive the first battle.”

“So I am still nothing but a stolen relic,” he said with surprising sadness. “Useful only for the intelligence I might have.”

He got up and went to the windows, watching dawn break over the London skyline, although Jane noted that he didn’t seem to be taking in the stunning view.

“He still cares nothing for me, only for what use I might be to him.”

“Maybe, but Thor was devastated by your loss, and by his hand in making you the man you became.” Mira got up and approached him, placing her hands on his biceps. “He truly loves you, Loki. He always has, even if he went about things the wrong way before.”

“Sentiment,” he scoffed.

“You love him too, don’t even try to deny it.”

“I don’t­-”

“You do, Loki. You wanted to be his equal, not in other people’s eyes, but in _his_ eyes. You have a chance for that now. Thor has finally grown up and realised the toxic nature of his younger behaviour; he’s ready to be the brother you always wanted. Please don’t throw this chance away.”

“And how, exactly, are we to bring about this joyous reunion?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“First, we make Jane immortal, so he can be with her without his father’s interference.”

“Odin will hate that.” She could almost feel Loki relax slightly at the thought of defying their father.

“I know. Thor told me that Odin would rather have let Jane die from the Aether, than make her immortal and give her the strength to survive it.”

“There’s just one small problem with that plan; we don’t have Idun’s fruit.”

“No, but with Gungnir, you don’t need it.”

Loki looked thoughtful. Other than Little Dove, who was already immortal, he had only ever seen Odin’s sceptre used to remove immortality, not give it but if indeed it could take it, it could also do the reverse, even on an ordinary human.

“Then what?” Loki asked.

“We take Jane back to Thor, then we all travel back to Asgard so I can prove to both of you all the truth of my words. Once you awake Odin, then we’ll have to convince him also. After that, it’s up to you and Thor to define your relationship.”

Loki turned and placed an arm around Mira, drawing him to his side and pressing a kiss to her temple.

“What of your brother?”

“Odin still wanted him to be executed but I made it clear that I would fight them both if that happened. Thor offered to return Njord the future with them, so he could live but wouldn’t be around to alter their past.”

“You spin a very tempting fantasy, Little Dove.”

“Will you not trust me, Loki, please?”

“You have no idea how much I would like to believe your words, but experience has told me that there are no happy endings,” his voice was filled with sorrow.

“I didn’t say you’d get a happy ending, and did you miss the part about a war with Thanos? All this is, is a chance, Loki. A chance for you to reclaim something of your family, and your rightful title as Prince of Asgard.”

“Oh, Dove, even if you are right, I will never be restored to my rightful title on Asgard. Odin would not allow it.”

 “Maybe, but with Jane immortal, Thor could rule Asgard with her as his Queen, then his word becomes law and if he wants to restore your position and title to you, Odin can’t stop him.”

“So I am to wait in a cell and hope that Thor eventually keeps his word, assuming he even agrees to this?”

“Loki, you have slaughtered hundreds of people on Earth. Even if we overlook what Thanos did to you to make you his agent the first time­-”

“You can't possibly know what he did!”

“No, but I know you didn’t work for him willingly.”

He turned to look at her. “And what gives you such foolish notions?”

“Because I know you, Loki, you always think five steps ahead. Knowing what I know now, I can see it all. Thanos wants the infinity stones and he sent you here with one to retrieve another. Instead, you carefully manipulated events to make sure that he lost both gems.”

“How did you know there were two?”

“Because the mind stone used to belong to my people.”

“Thor will never believe that.”

“What Thor believes doesn’t matter. What matters to me is that this attack, right now, that's all on you. Don’t you think you deserve to do a little penance for the people you’ve killed?”

“Clearly you do,” his tone became hard. “I think I did my penance long before I committed any crime.”

“The details can be worked out between us, maybe you and I can leave and lay low until Thor is crowned, like you suggested earlier. Whatever you decide to do, I’ll be by your side, wherever you go. I promise.”

Loki looked over to Jane, who had been eagerly listening to their talk but now she felt rather like a deer in the headlights.

“There is no saying this human even wants to become immortal.”

Mira turned to her. “Would you become immortal to be with Thor?”

Now Jane was really on the spot. She had dreamed about going to live on Asgard with Thor but that’s all they were, dreams. Actually giving up her life and moving to a whole other world… that was more than she could answer off the cuff.

“What about my life here?” Jane asked. “My friends, my work.”

“You won’t be bound to Asgard and with Thor as king, he makes the rules. Your friends could come and visit, or you could split your time, or commute to earth each day via the bifrost. And if you don’t like it, Gungnir can make you mortal again.”

Jane didn’t reply and so Mira slipped out from under Loki’s arm and tried to drag him over to the sofa, but he resisted so she let him be, going to sit beside Jane so she could talk with her.

“Just think about what you could learn on Asgard, the science of the bifrost, how magic works in scientific terms, all sorts of insights that it would take a thousand years on earth to understand.”

Jane looked tempted but also cautious. “What are you thinking?” Mira asked.

“I’m thinking that if everything you’ve said here today is true, I’m not even sure I want to be with Thor.”

“I know that feeling,” she looked over to Loki. “But Thor is the man you fell in love with, for better or worse, and he always will be, warts and all. You can't turn it off just because he does something, or has done something, that you don’t like.”

Loki took a few steps closer. “This is all pointless conjecture anyway. Odin will never give up the throne knowing that Jane will be Queen. Immortal or not, he would never allow a human to become Queen, any more than he would let a Frost Giant rule.”

“Then don’t wake him up. From what I gathered from the future Odin and Thor, you kept him asleep until Thanos attacked.”

“Thor would never agree to that.”

“Fine, then… Odin doesn’t have to know until it’s too late. You’re shielded from Heimdall, so he won’t see what happens to Jane; how else will Odin find out she’s immortal if we don’t tell him?”

“I still fail to understand how making Jane Queen of Asgard helps our cause.”

“The point is not to make Jane Queen, it’s to make Jane our equal, as a goodwill gesture on your part and to prove to Thor that you’re serious about mending your relationship. Plus, it’ll be one in the eye for Odin.”

“An oddly apt phrase for the man,” Loki smiled, then turned his attention to Jane. “What say you, human, do you wish to become immortal and stay with Thor, or remain mortal and allow him to suffer when you die prematurely.”

“I…”

Mina took Jane’s hand.

“I know this is a huge decision to have to make on the spot and if we had the time, I’d gladly give you years to make your mind up. Unfortunately, we don’t. SHIELD will find us eventually and now that Asgard’s war ships are no longer attacking all over the globe, the Avengers will likely be with them. We need a decision soon.”

“That sounds like an ultimatum.”

“It’s not,” Mira assured her. “The simple fact is that if Thor finds us before we’re ready, Loki will run, and I will go with him. This might not be your only opportunity for immortality, but it is the only one we can guarantee you.”

“You said something about fruit, is there another way to do this?”

“If eaten daily, Idun’s fruit will keep you alive for centuries, maybe even a few millennia. Unfortunately Odin banished her and getting the fruit is not easy these days. Plus, while it will lengthen your life, it won’t make you almost indestructible, as Loki, Thor and I are. Slipping on ice could still kill you, and given the life that Thor leads, you’re in much more danger than the average person.”

“Can I have some time to think about it?”

Mira looked to Loki.

“The protection wards on this building should prevent us being discovered for a while.”

“Is an hour enough?” she asked Jane.

“I guess it will have to be.”

“Okay. Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Then why don’t we go to the kitchen and you can think, while I cook.”

Jane nodded and sat at the kitchen bar, watching as Mira looked through the contents of the fridge and cupboards, then began to gather ingredients but while her eyes followed Mira, it was clear to see that her thoughts were otherwise occupied.

“It is incredibly disconcerting to see a goddess preparing meals,” Loki grumbled. He had come to stand in the doorway and was casually leaning against the frame, watching her.

“You’re the one who tried to make me your valet!” she teased, pointing a wooden spoon at him.

“I admit, the idea of being served by you still turns me on,” he purred.

She tried to give him a scolding glare, but the corners of her lips were turned up in a smile that couldn’t be completely suppressed.

“Where did you learn to cook?” he asked.

“Here,” she answered. “I didn’t really have much choice, foster kids don’t generally have cooks once they leave care.”

“It’s incredibly… domestic,” he said, frowning at his choice of words.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she laughed.

“I always thought it was although now, I have to admit, there is a certain sort of satisfaction in knowing I will be eating something prepared by you. I don’t understand why, the palace cuisine is excellent.”

Mira took a detour on her way to the fridge and kissed him.

“That’s because it’s made with love,” she told him.

Loki made a sound of disgust. “The humans have turned you soft.”

Mira laughed and continued to the refrigerator. “No one makes me soft, Loki, except maybe you. All I’ve done is widen my skill set. I now know how to sew a button on, start a fire without magic, polish shoes, paint walls, change the oil and check the levels in my car­-”

“You say this as if it’s a good thing!” he sounded horrified.

“You never know, Loki, one day we could be stranded somewhere without magic, and you might be glad I can start a fire.”

Loki gave a sound of disgust.

“The humans also have some interesting bedroom practices,” she said, dicing onions as she spoke. She realised that in her Vanir body, they didn’t make her cry any more, which could only be a good thing.

“I’m certain that humanity has nothing that I would be interested in.”

Mira left her work for a moment and sauntered over to her love. Even stretching up on her tiptoes, Loki had to lean down a little so she could whisper in his ear.

She whispered of the books and articles she had read on BDSM, the equipment she had seen, the intricate knots she had seen in pictures, used to restrain or immobilise, and how turned on some of the erotic imagery made her.

When she pulled away, Loki looked rather stunned and with a satisfied smile, Mira returned to her cooking.


	10. Chapter 10

Mira entered the underground bunker, walking coolly and calmly towards the entrance, much as Loki had done the previous evening. She stopped by the blast doors and looked into the camera mounted there.

“I want to speak with Thor,” she told the camera.

She knew Thor was here. Mjolnir was a powerful weapon but it had one weakness, magic that powerful could always be detected by a skilled practitioner.

She waited patiently. Like Loki, she could have opened the doors but she didn’t want these people to know that she had regained her powers yet. Besides, she had no need for grandstanding, in her experience, it was better to be seen as nonthreatening.

She waited for perhaps three minutes until finally, the doors ground open, with much scraping and squealing. Obviously Loki had damaged the doors when he forced them open.

Slowly the hallway came into view and she was greeted by Coulson, May and Thor.

“I honestly wasn’t sure we’d ever see you again,” Coulson admitted. She stood in the doorway, so they couldn’t close it.

“You thought Loki might hurt me, but you still gave me to him? You know, when you hired me, you said you were the good guys.”

“You can't exactly say you were honest with us either.” Coulson and the group stopped around five paces away from her. They were wary but they didn’t feel threatened by her. She wouldn’t go so far as to say they trusted her.

She shrugged. “I didn’t come here to discuss semantics.” She looked to Thor. “May I speak with you, Your Highness, in private?”

“Of course,” Thor gestured for her to come inside.

“After what they did to me last time, I’d rather talk out here.” Thor took a step but May grabbed his arm.

“Why are you here?” May asked her.

“I have a message from Loki, I guess I’m playing go­between.”

“Why?” Coulson asked.

“I’m the Goddess of Peace. I thought it might be worth a shot to see if I still have it.” She held her hand out towards Thor.

“I don’t trust her,” May glared at Mira.

“I hardly think she can harm me,” Thor assured her, shrugging out of her grip and taking a step towards Mira.

“It could be a trap,” Coulson warned.

“As long as I am trapped with Jane, then I shall not mind very much.” He stopped just before Mira but he didn’t take her hand. “Can I trust you?”

“You can. While I can't claim to have no ill will towards you, I have no desire to hurt you and let me assure you, Jane is safe and unharmed.”

With a little reluctance, he took her hand and allowed her to lead him out of the base.

“Where are we going?” Thor asked.

“Just to the street, where there are no cameras and microphones.”

“And what then?”

“I’ll take you to Jane.” They began climbing the stairs.

“How do I know this isn’t just another one of Loki’s tricks?”

“I give you my word, it isn’t.” Mira stopped and turned to him. “Look, you’re going to hear a lot of weird shit over the next couple of hours, and I apologise for my language, apparently you can take the

Vanir out of the mortal, but not the mortal out of the Vanir. I did it again! Shit! Bugger! Oh, bollocks, I’m sorry about how I’m talking, Thor, evidently I have no control over it.”

Despite himself, Thor had a small smile on his lips as she tried and failed to drop her human vocabulary.

“Anyway, the point is, I’ve convinced Loki to give reconciliation a chance and I believe he’ll try, but please don’t antagonise him.”

“I would never­”

“Maybe the you you are now wouldn’t, but the you I remember would have. Please, just try to make this work.”

“Your intentions in doing this were pure, Nerthus­”

“I prefer Mira, at least for the moment.”

“­but you cannot truly believe that reconciliation is possible.”

“I believe it is, but I need you to trust me until we get back to Asgard and I can prove it. Can you do that?”

Thor considered her for a moment before deciding to trust her. “I will do my best but I can make no promises. If any harm has come to Jane­-”

“It hasn’t.”

“­-there will be hell to pay.”

“Understood. Now come on.”

She continued up the stairs, tugging on Thor’s hand once more, and they exited onto a London street, thronged with people on their way to work or shopping and the minutia that filled human lives.

She led Thor over to a lamppost and took the hand of a hoodie wearing youth, who was casually leaning against it, his face obscured by the hood.

It took Thor a moment to notice the handhold, it wasn’t until he felt the pull of magic in his body that he realised the other person was Loki, and he had been tricked. He knew his body was being transported somewhere though, so he didn’t let her hand go or he might end up scattered across the galaxy, no more than a collection of atoms.

Once he felt whole again, he raised Mjolnir and turned to Loki, whose hoodie transformed into his regular armour, minus the helm and cape.

“I said no tricks!”

“It wasn’t a trick,” Mira stepped between the two men. “Jane is here, we brought you to Jane but I’m not powerful enough to transport two people over long distances, so I needed Loki’s power. I didn’t think you’d come if Loki suggested it.”

“Thor?”

His head whipped around at the sound of his name and he dropped Mjolnir with a thud as he ran at Jane.

“Oh, Jane! I thought you were lost to me.”

“I’m fine,” Jane assured him, patting him on the back. “Everything is going to be fine.”

Mira came to stand beside Loki and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her temple.

Thor pulled out of the hug and turned to Loki, Jane clutched protectively to his side. “What is the meaning is this?” he demanded of Loki.

“A peace offering,” Loki said, rather more evenly than Mira expected.

“You cannot make someone you kidnap into a peace offering,” Thor yelled. “You-­”

“Jane is not the peace offering,” Loki somehow kept his cool. “Her immortality is.”

“What?!” Thor turned to Jane immediately, taking her by the shoulders and running his eyes over her body. “What did they do to you? Did they hurt you?”

“It’s all right, Thor, I’m fine.”

“I am sorry, Jane, they had no right to do that to you. As soon as Father awakes he will fix this abomination.”

“I agreed to this,” Jane now looked hesitant and upset. “I thought you wanted to be with me, I thought this would help keep us together.”

“But Jane, you are mortal­”

“Human, Thor, I’m _human_. I’m still human, just an immortal one now.”

“But this is not your destiny.”

Jane shrugged out of Thor’s grip and stepped two paces away. “You know, as I listened to these two talk about how you used to be, about how you tried to have Mira killed, even when I believed them, I thought there had to be something else to the story. Now I’m starting to realise that maybe you haven’t changed all that much, maybe you’ve just learned to cloak your nastiness behind a veil of graciousness.”

“Jane,” he stepped towards her with his hand outstretched, but Jane backed away.

“No, Thor, I…”

Mira slipped out from under Loki’s arm and went to Jane.

“Come on, let’s leave the guys to talk for a while.”

Thor watched, stupefied, as the women walked away from him, while Loki rolled his eyes and came to stand beside his brother.

Mira looked over her shoulder. “Don’t kill each other!” She wagged a finger at them, as if they were a pair of school children.

“You never did learn the value of not speaking every little thought that enters that thick skull of yours, did you?” Loki noted.

“That is not helpful, Brother. You should not have done this.”

“And you should be saying ‘ _Thank you, Loki, now Jane and I can be together forever_ ’. Don’t ever let anyone accuse you of having tact, Thor.”

“What would you know about tact!”

“Ohh, that hurt,” Loki smirked.

“Oh, shut up.”

***

“He didn’t mean it, Jane,” Mira assured her. They were back in the bedroom where Mira had awoken.

“But he said it.”

Mira found a loo roll in the en suite bathroom, the closest she could get too tissues, and sat beside Jane on the bed.

“He called me an abomination.”

“The thing you have to understand, is that Asgard is a super prejudiced place. Seriously, they think they’re above everyone else in the entire universe.”

“I know, I’ve been there… Odin called me a goat.”

“God, I hate that guy.”

“Me too.”

They shared a small smile.

“You know Thor better than I do, but he does genuinely seem to love you, Jane, and I’m sure once he has time to properly think about this, he’ll be thrilled, but it’s hard to overcome the knee­jerk prejudices you’re raised with, so you have to be patient with him.”

“I can’t let him get away with what he said.”

“I’m not saying you have to, but your and Thor will be the first human-­Aesir marriage in generations. You have to expect a few teething problems. It took Odin more than 30 years to allow Loki to marry me, and I’m a friggin’ goddess!”

“I’m just… I don’t know if I can do this. Thor is bad enough but if I go back to Asgard with him, I’m going to be facing a whole planet of people who see me as inferior.”

“More like an infant, or an animal.”

“Not helping!” Jane gave her an incredulous look.

“You’re right, I’m sorry, but what I was going to say, is that you’ll also be a princess, and later a Queen. Your status will protect you from the worst of it and you can use that superior brain of yours and prove to them that humans aren’t inferior.”

Jane sighed. “Maybe I did overreact a little.”

“No, you reacted just fine, you just have to… explain why things are offensive, rather than just getting offended.”

“You’re right.” Jane dabbed her under eyes with the loo roll. “I can do this.”

“That’s the spirit,” Mira grinned. “And don’t forget, I’m on your side. I’ve lived here too long not to stand up for humanity.”

“I don’t get you, you sound all reasonable and shit, then you go and fall in love with Loki!”

“No one ever said love was logical.”

“No, they didn’t,” Jane actually smiled at that.

“You ready to go back out there and tell Thor he’s being an ass?”

“Yeah.”

***

“What gives you the right to tell me how to deal with my personal relationships?” Thor demanded. The brothers were seated on different sides of the massive L-­shaped couch.

“Perhaps because your longest relationship to date is with that hammer but as far as women go, you’ve hardly reached two weeks before another caught your eye.”

“That does not mean you know Jane better than I.”

“No, but I have been in a relationship for over 30 years and even although her memories were stolen and she was exiled to Earth, she never forgot me. Can you say the same?”

Thor mumbled a disagreement.

“Exactly,” Loki smiled.

“There is no need to be so smug about it.”

“There is no need for you to be so dim, but you are.”

“I grateful to you for thinking of our future, Loki, but I will thank you to keep your nose out of our business in the future.”

“I think you might allow that I have _slightly_ more experience when it comes to relationships, brother.”

“You also have more experience killing.”

“Please,” Loki scoffed. “You have killed at least as many, and Odin far more than both of us combined.”

“Not innocents!”

“No? Did you take inventory of those Jotun who were defending their land against you? You broke the treaty, you trespassed on their realm and you struck the first blow. I would say every single Jotun that you killed that day was innocent.”

“You let them into Asgard.”

“Yes, but you didn’t bother to look for the true culprit, did you? And before you ask, I will never apologise for that. You deserved it.”

“And you are innocent, I suppose,” Thor said, nearly rolling his eyes. “Some kind of avenging angel?”

“More like an avenging God but equally, I have never claimed to be innocent. Not since the day I thought I’d lost Dove. You ripped my innocence away from me that day, and you have only yourself to blame for my hatred and anger.”

“I will not take credit for the people you killed, Loki, that was your choice, no matter the wrongs done to you, but I will hold my hands up and apologise for wanting Nerthus put to death. I selfishly hoped that it would bring you back to me but instead, it drove an even greater wedge between us, one that remained even when I could not see it.”

“Do you still not see anything wrong with killing those Jotun?”

“Don’t you? You arranged that whole scheme.”

“Going to Jotunheim was never part of my plan, Thor, that was all you. I was the one who told Father, hoping he would stop us before we reached the Bifrost. But then, it suits you to keep imagining yourself the hero and me the villain.”

“The Jotun are monsters!” Thor insisted, catching himself only a second later.

Loki’s jaw twitched. “And what of the Vanir?” he asked. “What is your excuse for your part in slaughtering thousands of them?”

“We were at war­”

“An unnecessary war that your father started! But those deaths don’t count because Odin said it was okay.”

“Sarcasm doesn’t become you, Loki.”

“Clearly the truth and you have never been friends either. Please explain how my coming down here to rule Midgard is any worse than the two wars Father waged against Vanaheim, for exactly the same reason?”

“I-"

Mira poked her head around the door.

“It looks calm,” she said. “Nothing broken, no scorch marks, no blood. I think we’re good,” she looked back to Jane, making her laugh slightly.

“Jane.” Thor got to his feet as she entered. “I apologise for my remarks earlier, I spoke before I thought.”

“Do you really think I’m an abomination?” Jane asked, folding her arms defensively over her chest.

“No, Jane.”

“Then why say it?”

“Because that is what we were taught.”

“What Thor means to say, Jane,” Loki stood up and came to stand beside his brother, “is that we were taught that changing someone on a molecular level is wrong and that immortality is only for those born with it, hence why Odin cast Idun out. What Thor has failed to notice however, is that, to use your Midgardian parlance, Odin is full of shit, as evidenced by his changing me to appear Aesir and pretending I’m one of them, thus breaking one of his own teachings in a rather spectacular fashion.”

During Loki’s little speech, Thor’s expression was as easy to read as a book, going from indignity to thoughtful, back to indignant, and finally a reluctant acceptance.

“Loki makes some very astute observations, as always. If only he would turn that powerful intellect on himself from time to time.” He gave Loki a pointed look.

Loki rolled his eyes and Thor slowly approached Jane.

“Do you forgive me?” Thor asked.

“Are you happy I’m like you now?” Jane asked.

“I am, dear Jane. I should not have snapped at you, but the thought of you by my side for the rest of my life, is… wonderful.”

“Fine, but we are talking about this properly at some point.”

“Understood,” Thor grinned.

“Great, fantastic, I’m considering a second career in marriage counselling. Now, can we get back to the real reason we’re here?” Mira asked. “The clock is ticking and we really don’t have a lot of time for bickering.”

“What clock?” Thor demanded.

“A metaphorical clock, meaning that we don’t know how long we have until SHIELD finds us. Now can we all please sit down like adults and I’ll explain how I escaped Asgard and why I turned up here as a mortal.”

“Then by all means,” Thor smiled. “Tell us your tale.”

They all took a seat on the couch and Mira began her unlikely story of time travel and her miraculous rescue.

***

Mira led Loki, Thor and Jane to Loki’s quarters and into the side room, which had been her bedroom when she first arrived. Even though she had only slept in there for a night or two, it still housed much of her possessions and had become more of a dressing room. She rightly guessed that Loki would keep it as some kind of shrine after she died and the future­-Thor had confirmed it.

“Do you really believe she can prove it?” Thor whispered to Loki.

“Time travel is theoretically possible, especially if one can harness the Time Stone. What I find harder to believe is that you and Odin wanted to save her life and by extension, mine.”

“Do you really believe I wish you harm?” Thor turned to Loki.

Loki side­eyed Thor for a second, before returning his gaze to Mira. “I believe that Thor gets what Thor wants, and anyone who is crushed in the process is an acceptable loss in your eyes.”

“Loki, I was a fool. I was rash and cruel when I was younger, I accept that. I should never have asked for Mira’s head and my jealousy that day is something I shall never forget. I truly apologise for the hurt I have caused you and I accept my part in making you this way.”

“Your words are but pretty folly, Thor. Your actions speak far louder.”

“Then my actions from this day forth shall speak of my love for you.”

Loki rolled his eyes as Mira approached them.

“This is what they gave me for you, Loki, it was among your possessions when you died.” She handed him a rolled up parchment.

He tore the ribbon off and opened it to reveal a sketch of Little Dove; the paper had yellowed with time and grime and the edges were stained red with blood.

“This can't be,” he whispered, running back into his room and searching his books until he pulled out another sketch, one that had been protected between the pages.

“They look exactly the same,” Jane noted. “Aside from the blood.”

“And Thor,” Mira said to get his attention, “You gave me this.” She handed him a necklace.

“But that’s mine,” Jane said, fishing in her neck and pulling the chain out from under her shirt. It was a simple hammer shaped pendant, made to look like Mjolnir and with a small diamond inlaid in one corner.

Thor compared the two.

“I had this made for Jane soon after I returned to Earth. They look identical,” Thor admitted.

Loki was still going from sketch to sketch, trying to find anything, any difference that would prove one was a copy and not the same drawing from the future.

“I believe you,” Thor nodded. “You said you had something to convince Odin of your tale also?”

“I do.”

“May I see it?”

“No. That’s for him.”

Thor reluctantly accepted her refusal.

“Now we must decide what happens next,” Thor exclaimed. “And wake father from the sleeping curse Loki has him under.”

“All in good time, Thor. For now, you’re all safe and working together. Let’s have one nice evening together, then tomorrow we’ll work out the semantics of what happens next.”

Thor seemed reluctant, wanting to push ahead, but Mira knew that Loki wasn’t looking forward to what happened next. He would be dethroned and possibly thrown back in prison, and she knew he wouldn’t relish that.

As yet, Thor didn’t know the extent of Loki’s machinations and she knew they had to find a way to keep Loki and Thor together, united, and waking Odin up would not help with that. Odin was a dictator, an absolute ruler and without Frigga to counteract his worst tendencies, and especially given his treatment of Jane when she was infected with the Aether, Mira could easily imagine that he had turned into a despot.

“I have no plans to run, Thor,” Loki assured him, although he didn’t raise his gaze from the sketches he was examining. “And you might want to go and help your friends in Muspelheim. I’m sure your presence could quickly end hostilities there. Perhaps they too can make it back in time for supper.”

“If you run, Loki, I will follow.”

“Yes yes,” he sighed. “And drag me back to face my punishment and public humiliation, etcetera.”

“No. I will follow because you are my brother.”

Loki looked up then, surprised to see sincerity in Thor’s face.

“I won’t lose you again, Loki. We have both committed wrongs, against others and each other. I apologise for the harm I have done you and I sincerely want to move forward from this, to be brothers once more, and in more than just name now.”

Loki stared for a few long moments, as if trying to detect a lie, but he could not.

“I swear on Dove’s life that I will still be here tomorrow morning,” was all Loki would commit to.

“Then that is good enough for me. I hope we shall see you at supper.”

“I think not, I would prefer to eat here, away from prying eyes and whispering tongues. You and Jane however, are welcome to join us.”

“Thank you, Loki.”

Mira grabbed Jane’s hand as she turned to leave. “Don’t let anyone get you down and I’m here if you need to talk, okay?”

“Thanks, Mira.”

They left and Mira put her hand on Loki’s shoulder.

“There was one other thing they gave me,” she told Loki, opening her palm to reveal two gold rings, each with an emerald stone in the centre. “Future-­Thor said these were the wedding rings that you made for us.”

Loki plucked them from her palm and stared in awe at them.

“I did,” he held them up to the light and read the inscriptions. “They look exactly the- but I lost them.”

“When you fell into the void,” Mira completed. “He said you died because you were attacking Thanos, trying to get these back. You succeeded, they found them clutched in your hand, but it cost you your life.”

When Loki looked up, he could see her crying.

“Dove?” he approached, meaning to wrap her in an embrace, but she pushed him away.

“No! Don’t you dare try and comfort me! Do you think I wanted you to spend the rest of your live avenging me? To die just to get a couple of rings back? No, I love you, Loki, and the pain you’ve put yourself through? It kills me! All I have ever wanted for you is to be happy, and the thought that you’d kill yourself for some relic from our relationship, it hurts me, Loki! It physically hurts!”

She was sobbing now, her words hardly understandable and when Loki tried once more to comfort her, she collapsed against him.

“That future will never come to pass,” he assured her. “You’re here now, and no one is ever going to take you away from me ever again.”

“You can't know that,” she sobbed.

“But I do.”

“But you can't!” she pulled away so she could look up at him. “You have to promise me, Loki, that if I do go first, you will at least try to be happy. I couldn’t stand the thought of you being miserable for the rest of your life.”

“I cannot make that promise, Little Dove, and you know why. Could you find love again if I died?”

She wanted to argue with him, to say that yes, she could, but she knew that wasn’t true.

“See? We are both prisoners to our emotions. We just need to make certain that we either don’t die, or when we cannot avoid it, we die together.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Easy? No. But a life without you is unbearable. I know, I’ve lived it.”

He pulled her against him and they stood there, both clinging to each other for dear life.

***

Thor didn’t join them for dinner that evening, he was still in Muspelheim helping Sif and the warriors three, but Jane did join them and afterwards, Mira sat Loki down to discuss how much they should tell Thor about his schemes.

“He will not appreciate knowing that you orchestrated the conflict with the Fire Demons, nor that you influenced events on Earth,” she suggested. “He knows there is something suspect about your resurrection so we can’t lie too much about that, but the more we let him believe is a coincidence, the better for us.”

“This is pointless!” Loki snapped at her as he paced the floor. “Thor will never agree to leave me a free man, and Odin absolutely won’t.”

“I think you misread the extent of Thor’s guilt,” Mira explained. She was starting to get a crick on her neck from watching him pace back and forth. “He knows that he is to blame for your downfall and we can use that guilt to our advantage.”

“And Odin?”

“Odin is a dick, and after how he treated Jane, Thor knows that. This is what I’m saying, that we can use Thor to our advantage.”

“It will never work.”

“Loki,” she reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him. “The only reason this won’t work, is if you don’t want it to work.”

She could tell from the stiffening of his shoulders that she had hit a nerve.

“You don’t feel worthy of his love, do you? You don’t believe that the Asgardians will accept you because of what you are, so you try to force your rule on them.”

“They will never accept me,” he argued. “To them, I am a monster.”

“No, Loki.”

“That is not how they will see things, and Odin will surely let slip my true heritage if he feels that I am not toeing the line.”

Mira’s grip slackened and fell from his hand.

“Dove?”

Her eyes were unfocused and he could almost hear the cogs turning in her head.

“Dove?” He came and sat before her, taking her hands. “Talk to me.”

“You’re right,” she said, meeting his gaze but only for a second. “Odin is as Machiavellian as they come.”

“Machiavellian?”

“It means scheming on Earth. Just think of what we know about. He stole you from the Frost Giants and raised you as an Aesir, he sent a false wise man to Vanaheim, while he punished you for your actions on Earth, he called Jane an animal and said their lives were fleeting. He twists everything to fit his own ends, and those are just a few instances we know about.” She met his gaze again. “How many other secrets does Odin have that we don’t know about?”

“You think there is something we could use to blackmail Odin?”

“I think there is a whole hoard of things locked up in his mind that we can use against him.”

“And how do you suggest we unlock those secrets?” Loki asked.

“Odin is powerful but between us and Gungnir, I think we can break into his mind and find his secrets, straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.”

“Really, Dove, your speech has become most unrefined since your exile on Midgard.”

Mira rolled her eyes.

“Your plan however, has much merit.”

“Then let’s get started.” Mira grinned.

***


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the secrets revealed in this chapter come directly from Norse Mythology.

**Chapter Eleven**

Nerves were not something that Loki was used to but as he sat facing Thor and Jane around the table in the King’s private council chamber, he couldn’t help but feel unease thanks to his newfound knowledge.

“You look unwell, Loki,” Thor noted.

“I have felt better,” he said, hardly able to meet Thor’s eye. “Last night, Mira and I decided to take a walk in Odin’s memories and we found… well, we found far more than either of us expected. We intended to find information that we could use against Odin, to bargain for my freedom once he is awakened, but… I find myself unable to keep what I learned from you.”

“Loki, I don’t think I have ever seen you so unsure. By the Norns, what could you have uncovered that is so bad?”

“I debated whether to tell you this or not,” Loki said, finally meeting Thor in the eye. “Ignorance is bliss, as I myself can attest, but Mira insists that you deserve to know.”

“Tell me, Brother, for surely there can be nothing so awful as you imagine.”

“Oh, Thor.” Loki almost sounded sad. “Our whole lives have been a lie, not just mine. Odin himself is a lie for while his father was Bor, his mother was Bestla, a Jotun. Odin is half Frost Giant.”

Thor laughed. “You do spin some tall tales, brother, but your lies will not help you here.”

“He’s not lying, Thor, and we can prove it,” Mira insisted. “The magic that keeps Loki looking Aesir fades when he touches the Casket of Ancient winters. If Odin is half Jotun, his appearance should also change when it touches it.”

Thor actually seemed to be considering their point. “How do I know such a test will not just be your illusions?”

“We also discovered that Odin has a vault,” Loki went on to explain. “I believe proof can be found there of everything we tell you today. He also has two brothers, Vili and Ve, both of whom he banished so that his true parentage might never be discovered. If we can find them, they will corroborate our story.”

“So I am one quarter Jotun? That hardly seems like a terrible lie, especially in light of your heritage, Brother.”

“I’m truly sorry, Thor,” Loki took a deep breath, “but Frigga is not your mother.”

Thor actually seemed to pale slightly. “Surely this is a cruel prank, Loki?”

“I wish it were, Thor. I know what it’s like to have everything you believe to be true, torn asunder, but I speak the truth. Did you never wonder why Odin waited until so late in life to have children? Frigga was unable to have them. Odin is your father but your mother is called Jord, also a… Jotun. Odin brought you home following a diplomatic mission and gave you to Frigga to raise. Laufey saw his taking of you as theft, and it is part of the reason the Jotun waged war against Asgard. You were supposed to be their hero, not Asgard’s.”

“No,” Thor whispered, now looking a rather sickly shade of green. “That cannot be true, I cannot be a…”

“Frost Giant? Because you are too good and pure to be three quarters Jotun?” Loki seethed.

Mira put her hand over Loki’s. She could understand his anger, Thor thinking that it was all right for Loki to be a Jotun, but feeling himself above such things. However, hurling insults wouldn’t help any of them.

“The Casket of Ancient Winters is in the weapons vault,” Mira said calmly. “It seems that is one sure way to prove your parentage once and for all.”

“This is your doing!” Thor glared at her, pure malice in his eyes.

“I convinced Loki to tell you the truth, yes, because I lived a lie on Earth and I was desperate to know the truth. I didn’t cheat on Frigga with a Giantess though, and I didn’t steal you from your birth mother. You’re angry, and you’re right to be angry, but not with me or Loki.”

“She’s right,” Jane piped up. “If what they say is true, don’t kill the messenger.”

“So what, you would have me believe that we are a family of Jotun leading the Aesir and Asgard? The idea is preposterous.”

“Only one way to find out.” Loki waved his hands and the Casket appeared in the middle of the table they were sitting around.

Loki stood and placed his hand on the casket. Almost immediately his hand turned blue and ridges appeared on his skin.

Mira stood next, laying her palm on the top of the box. Nothing happened to her skin.

Thor remained seated, staring at Loki as the blue crept up his brother’s neck, over his face and up into his hairline, while his eyes began to glow red.

Mira also found herself staring at him and when Loki glanced at her, he expected to see something similar to the distaste on Thor’s face; instead he saw fascination.

She took her right hand off the casket and replaced it with her left, so she was facing Loki. She raised her right hand tentatively.

“May I?”

Loki hesitated then gave her a curt nod. Slowly she reached out and brushed her fingertips over his cheek and once assured his skin wouldn’t burn her (it was supposed to be only a defence mechanism) she cupped his cheek in her hand.

“Oh wow, you’re beautiful.” She seemed to have forgotten the reason for doing this and appeared oblivious to their audience. Her hand migrated north and she traced the ridges on his brow. “Kiss me,” she whispered.

“Now is hardly-”

“Please.”

Loki leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. He had meant it to be a quick, chaste kiss but she deepened it and the delicate mewling noised she made were almost his undoing. Tempted as he was to throw her on the table and fuck her senseless, he had enough reason left to realise they had an audience and when Jane coughed uncomfortably, he realised that Mira had dropped her hold on the casket and seemed to be attempting to climb him.

“Later,” he assured her. He had to let go of the casket to pick her up by her hips and place her back on the ground.

It was not her turn for a change in skin tone, to a rather fetching shade of pink, as she realised how she had behaved in front of Thor and Jane.

“Sorry about that, folks.” She placed her hand back on the casket, as did Loki, whose skin quickly turned blue once more.

Jane stood up next. “Will it hurt me?” she asked.

“No,” Loki assured her, and she placed her hand next to his.

As expected, nothing happened and she turned to Thor.

“It’s better to live with a hard truth than a pretty lie,” Jane told him.

Mira had never seen Thor so reticent before; even when he was nervous, he had always covered it with bragging and bravado.

Jane reached out and took his right hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze and finally, he slowly reached out with his left hand and placed it between Mira and Jane’s on the casket.

As soon as he touched it, the skin on his hand took on a slightly blue hue and he ripped his hand away, as if burned.

All three of them remained where they were and after a few more moments, he reached out and touched the casket again.

His skin was not as dark as Loki’s but it wasn’t far off and he had the same raised ridges, although the pattern was different to Loki’s.

The brothers finally looked each other in the eye, red eyes staring into red.

Thor had no words for this but Loki did. Of course, he wasn’t sure if they would be much of a comfort.

“We may not be blood relations, but it seems we are kin, Brother.”

Feeling that Thor had been tortured enough with truth for one day, Loki removed his hand from the casket and the others did the same. Thor stared at his hands as the blue receded, flexing his fingers as if he felt different in his Jotun form.

“Before we discuss anything else to do with Odin,” Loki began, “I suggest you take some time to… come to terms with this revelation.”

“No!” Thor said firmly. “I want to know what else you discovered.”

“Really, Thor, I think the rest can wait. Speaking from experience, I wasn’t at my most rational when I learned the truth.”

“No, tell me what else you have learned.”

Loki sighed but since none of his other revelations were this fundamental, he supposed it couldn’t really hurt.

“Do you remember your first battle,” he asked Thor, “when Odin sent you to fight Harbaror?”

“Yes, of course, who doesn’t remember their first victory?”

“That was Odin in disguise, he wanted you to feel strong and confident, so he staged that fight.”

Thor frowned.

“And do you remember your friend, Brynhildr?”

“Yes, she married a mortal man, did she not? I was sorry when she left.”

“She didn’t marry a mortal, Thor. Do you recall that she was chosen as judge in a duel? Her task was to decide a fight between the kings, Hjalmgunnar and Agnar, and she did so as fairly as she could, trying to judge based on their battle skills. Odin wanted Hjalmgunnar to win and when she chose Agnar as the victor, Odin put a sleeping curse on her. I dare say the only reason he allowed her to live at all, is because you had a crush on her. I’ve already sent Sigurd to the castle she is being kept in to retrieve her body, and we can only hope that she can be revived.”

“What else?” Thor demanded.

“Do you remember the second Aesir-Vanir War?”

“How could I forget, it is what brought Little Dove into our lives.”

“And do you remember Father’s justification for it? That they were practicing dark magic and he had heard rumours that they intended to move against Asgard?”

“I remember.”

“The real reason, was that as a peaceful and generally thought, wise culture, the Vanir were becoming too popular among the other realms. Odin feared they would try to overthrow him and rule in his stead, but there was absolutely zero justification for his fears, other than their popularity. We slaughtered thousands of them and for what? So that one old man’s vanity could be pandered to. And you already know how seriously he took the peace treaty, sending a fake instead of a wise man, but what you don’t know is that he had to sign the treaty because he was afraid he would lose, and he send the fake hoping that the Vanir would do something and allow him to break the peace, because while the Vanir had believed a lasting peace had been reached, Odin had used the intervening years to train up more troops so when war threatened to break out again, the Vanir had little choice but to acquiesce. Odin’s henchmen now rule their realm, as well you know.”

Thor walked away from them and went to the window, gazing out over the Asgardian skyline. Mira thought that it was eerily reminiscent of how Loki behaved when he was perturbed.

“I knew that Father could he ridged and inflexible, but I never dreamed that so much of what I took for granted was a lie.”

“Believe it or not, I am sorry, Thor.”

“I suspect you are the only man alive who can understand how I am feeling right now.”

“Quite possibly,” Loki agreed. “And I wouldn’t recommend waging a war,” he tried to lighten the mood my teasing Thor.

“Do you know, when I told him that I wished to return to Midgard and not take up the mantle of king, I thought that perhaps he was mellowing in his old age. He told me he was proud of the man that I had become, but that was you, Brother, wasn’t it? I should have seen it but I wanted to believe that he was proud of me.”

Loki didn’t bother to confirm it, why rub salt in the wound?

Eventually Thor turned to them. “I have much to think on. I believe I will take you up on your offer of time, Loki; with a clearer head, we can better decide what to do.”

Loki nodded. “There is a banquet this evening, to celebrate your victory against Muspelheim.”

“I shall put in an appearance but you will forgive me if I am not in the mood for much merriment.”

“Of course.”

Thor turned to Jane and seemingly reluctantly, he held his hand out towards her.

Loki understood that his hesitance was not a rejection of Jane but rather, a fear that she would reject him. Luckily, Jane knew nothing of the Frost Giants and hadn’t been raised to see them as monsters, so she went to him without hesitation.

“I never thought I would say this, but he is lucky to have found her,” Loki said once Thor had left. “Where else in the nine realms can one find someone with no prejudice towards the Jotun?”

Mira slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest.

“Here,” she answered.

***

It took Thor nine days days before he was ready to discuss that to do with Odin, not until the day after Sigurd returned with an unconscious Brynhildr in tow. Loki would be willing to bet that until that point, when his friend was returned to him by another trusted friend, Thor had hoped that everything he had learned about Odin might have been Loki’s trickery.

With Mira’s help, Loki was able to break the sleeping curse she was under, and Brynhildr confirmed Loki’s story for herself, albeit in far more detail than Loki had provided.

Thor came to see him the next morning, demanding that they talk.

Loki had considered all possibilities that Thor might suggest and was ready to steer Thor towards Loki’s preferred solution, so he was surprised when almost as soon as they sat down, Thor said “I believe we should leave Odin asleep.”

That had been Loki’s choice and Dove had told him, in the alternate version of the future, where Loki ruled both Midgard and Asgard, she had said that he ‘awoke Odin’ when Thanos attacked.

“What makes you say that?” Loki asked, genuinely interested in how Thor reached the same conclusion.

“My instinct is to reveal the truth and tell the people our true heritage, but gather Thanos will attack the nine realms in the not too distant and I cannot be sure if the Aesir will trust either of us if they learn that you are fully and I am three quarters Jotun. We cannot afford to take that risk.”

“I agree,” Loki nodded. “But why not kill Odin?”

“Because for all his faults, he has a mind for battle that I do not. His insights might mean the difference between victory and defeat.”

Loki nodded slowly. So far, truth had worked well for him with Thor and he decided to reveal an additional truth, this time a personal one.

“There’s something you should know about Thanos,” Loki said.

“Oh?”

“I’m the reason he’s coming.”

“You? You are still in league with him?” Thor sounded affronted.

“I was never in league with him!” Loki snapped, then took a moment to collect his thoughts so that he could explain as succinctly as possible. He had no desire to relive certain memories. “Thanos sent me to Earth with one infinity stone, the mind stone, to collect a second, the space stone, what the humans called the Tesseract. Instead I made sure he lost both. He coerced my cooperation and promised my death if I failed but honestly, I didn’t foresee Odin allowing me to live long enough for Thanos to take his revenge.”

“You planned to lose?” Thor sounded flabbergasted.

“Always. My target on the helicarrier was never the Hulk, he was just a distraction, my plan was to take the life of someone the humans cared for. Nothing unites people like the desire for revenge. Banner did not know Coulson, so him I had to antagonise separately to ensure he joined in the fight against me and you, of course, you were easy, I knew you would always fight for the underdog.”

“Why didn’t you tell me your plan?”

“Thanos was watching me, he had to believe that I was loyal or he would have taken steps to derail my plan. I knew you wouldn’t, and that the humans couldn’t hurt me, but if Thanos thought me disloyal, he would have killed me and sent The Other in my place.”

“Why did you not use that in your defence?”

“Why?” Loki demanded. “I knew Frigga loved me regardless, and I had no desire to try and win your or Odin’s approval.”

He turned away, the mention of their mother reminding them both of their loss.

“Had I known then what I know now, I may have explained myself,” Loki admitted.

“I’m sorry I thought the worst, Loki.”

“You thought only what I intended you to think,” Loki assured him.

“Still-”

“I don’t wish to discuss it further,” Loki interrupted. “We can discuss plans for Thanos at some later date, for now, we must decide what happens to the Kingdom with Odin in an eternal Odinsleep.”

“You wish to remain as King,” Thor stated.

Loki turned back to his brother. “Actually, much like you, I find the throne has lost much of its allure.”

“You prefer to spend your time with Little Dove?”

“As you do with Jane,” Loki added.

“So what do you propose?”

“That we share the burden. As far as Asgard is concerned, Odin never officially crowned me and with his Odinsleep lasting far longer than usual, you and I have agreed to share the throne. That should allow us both time for ourselves and still fulfil our duty to the kingdom.”

Thor nodded as he contemplated the idea. “I will have to discuss it with Jane. She is still getting used to her immortality, she may not wish to move to Asgard.”

“Then perhaps rather than ruling together, we could alternate,” Loki suggested.

“Alternate?”

“If Jane wishes to remain on Midgard, I would rule for a month, or two, then you would return to Asgard to take over the throne for the same period of time, before returning to Jane.”

“That seems rather disjointed, but I will put it to her.”

“Now I have a favour to ask of you,” Loki said, his gaze fixed on an invisible speck of lint on his cuff.

“Oh?”

“I, uh, I have yet to ask again but I assume the first acceptance still holds, in which case, I was wondering…”

“Just ask, Loki,” Thor encouraged.

Loki glanced at his brother, then returned to fiddling with his cuff. “I would like to marry Little Dove…”

“And you would like me to bless the marriage?”

“Actually, I was hoping you might perform it. Odin is indisposed and I cannot perform my own wedding.”

“You would choose me over an Elder?”

“You are royalty, it would be seen as a sign of acceptance of Dove, especially given that she was supposed to have been executed. There is much gossip about her reappearance.”

“I would be pleased to, Loki, not just as a Prince but as your brother. I hope you realise how much I regret what happened back then.”

“I’m not generally much for forgiveness,” Loki admitted. “In this instance though, if you would agree, we can consider that particular slate wiped clean.”

“It will be an honour, Loki.”

“Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I shall ask Dove her feelings on the matter.”

“Of course.”

“Let me know as soon as you and Jane decide what you want to do, the sooner I can announce it, the sooner we can change our practices to account for dual rule.”

***

“What did he say?” Dove asked, putting her book aside as Loki returned to their rooms.

“I believe he will agree, the only questions seems to be the division of our roles.”

“And how is he?”

“Angry.”

“It will take him some time to get over the betrayal.”

“I’m not sure you can get over something on this scale,” Loki admitted. “You can learn to live with it, but you can never regain the lost trust. He was the one who suggested leaving Odin asleep; now he’s seen Brynhildr awaken from a nearly 500 year sleep with no ill effects, I think he’s happy to avoid the confrontation.”

“And you? How do you feel?”

“I’m fine.”

Mira noticed that he often avoided talking of his emotions now but she was hopeful that in time, she could get him to open up to her again.

“Are you settling in all right?”

“Somewhat,” Mira sighed.

“What troubles you?” Loki came to sit beside her.

“Thor might have matured but his friends seem not to have. They are as impulsive as ever.”

“What did they say?”

“Nothing important,” she shook her head, which Loki had learned meant that that had said something unkind about him. She never liked to tell him when people said cruel things about him.

“Tell me, darling, I promise I won’t have them killed.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you did,” she gave him a pointed look. “It’s not them I’m worried about.”

“Darling, I am your Master and you will tell me what they said, or I will make you regret it.”

He could see Dove waver slightly, then she met his gaze, challenging him. Honestly, he could guess what they had said, and he would bet good money that it had been said by Sif, but he knew that Dove was finding it difficult to reintegrate with Asgardian society, not only because of Loki’s reputation, not even mostly, but because she actually missed her human life. He knew that she felt she had a purpose on Midgard but until the roles of he and Thor were settled, Loki couldn’t provide her with employment and a way to be useful here.

She needed to let off some steam, and he was more than happy to help her with that.

“Assume the position, darling, on the side of the bed.”

Mira stood up and with a wave of her hand, her clothing disappeared and she knelt on their bed, her knees spread, her forehead pressed into the mattress and her wrists folded above her head.

Loki came up and caressed her cheeks.

“You were very disobedient,” he told her.

“I know, Master. I’m sorry.”

“You must remain absolutely still; any movement will earn you another five blows, do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Good. Count them.”

He struck her pert ass and she gasped with shock. It was harder than he usually spanked but that was the point; he knew now that her thoughts were now far from her earlier worries and upsets.

“One,” she counted.

After another five strong spanks, he eased off on the intensity; the point was to allow her to release by giving herself over to him, not to beat her black and blue. He paused occasionally to run his hands over her rapidly pinking cheeks but he didn’t play with her sex, he wanted to build her frustration as high a she could.

He could see that her folds were glistening with her juices now and that every spank caused her cunt to clench. Her counting had also become more breathless and as he neared 100, her cries were of pleasure, not pain, despite the deep shade of red her ass had turned.

“There there, darling,” he crooned, caressing her reddened ass. “It’s all over now.”

“Please,” she whimpered.

“Please what?”

“Please fuck me!”

“You look rather too sore for that, darling.”

“I need it, please!” she mewled. She was nearly sobbing with need.

Loki traced the length of her slit with one finger, which only excited her more but provided no relief.

“You are a horny little minx, aren’t you?” he mused.

“Please, Loki, fuck my cunt, ram me hard and fast, I don’t care if it hurts, just please let me come!”

Loki’s clothes dissolved with a shimmer of magic and he stepped up behind her, his skin turning blue. He had been working on overriding whatever spell made him appear Aesir and he was becoming quite good at it. It seemed that shapeshifting might be a latent talent of his and with practice, he might be able to wear this form indefinitely, should he ever choose to.

“You want my cock?” he asked, lining himself up with her entrance but not actually touching her.

“Yes, please, yes!”

“Then take it!” he said, sliding home in one thrust and making sure to press his cold skin against her sore ass.

He expected his cold skin to elicit some reaction from her, especially given how hot her and tender ass was, but he hadn’t expected her to come immediately. She screamed as her orgasm crashed through her and her tight sheath clamped down on his shaft, tempting him to come quickly too, but he held still, wrapping his cool arms around her torso and holding her tightly as she rode her climax out.

“Fuck!” she panted as her orgasm finally began to recede. “That was… incredible.”

“We’ve only just begun,” he assured her as he began to thrust into her.

He hadn’t expected sex in his Jotun form to be very different from regular sex but it was. The combination of her heat and his cool created a mix of sensations that heightened his pleasure, as well as hers.

When he felt close to his own peak, he reached one hand down to her sex and began to rub her clitoris with an ice cold finger, bringing her to another climax far sooner than he expected and to his surprise, when he spilled his seed inside her, she reached a third climax, and it felt as if she was milking him, squeezing every drop of seed from him as her sheath gripped his length in rippling waves.

He collapsed on top of her, rolling to the side and taking her with him until he was spooning her, his softening length still inside her.

“That was amazing,” she said after a few moments.

“It was rather, wasn’t it?”

The little murmur of agreement that she gave was accompanied by her cunt squeezing his dick once again.

“Marry me,” he suddenly said, unable to wait for a more romantic time.

“Of course,” she answered, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

“I mean it. The contracts are still on place from before, we can be married tomorrow.”

Dove placed her hand over his, where it rested on her stomach.

“Nothing would make me happier,” she assured him.

Loki moved away slightly and encouraged Dove onto her back so he could look into her eyes.

“Do you mean that? You still want me?”

She smiled up at him and reached out to cup his blue cheek.

“I will never stop wanting you,” she confided.

The huge smile that lit up his face was a sight to behold, one she hadn’t seen since they had been reunited, and one that she had never seen while he was in his Jotun form.

Loki leaned down and kissed her and when he pulled away, she rolled onto her side again.

“Now spoon me again, my arse is killing me.”

Loki obliged her with a laugh and just before he settled against her, he whispered in her ear.

“Next time I fuck you in this form, I’ll spank your cunt first.”

Dove’s eyes were growing heavy but she managed to smile.

“Just give me fifteen minutes,” she answered languidly, stifling a yawn.

Loki chuckled and settled down. He too felt slightly lethargic and he could feel his Jotun form slipping away as his concentration faded. Since he could no longer cool her with his body, he pressed his hand against Little Dove’s hip and healed her buttocks, although not completely since he knew that she liked feeling his spankings for the rest of the day.

He wrapped a possessive arm around her waist and closed his eyes.

“Mine,” he whispered.

“Yours,” she murmured with a satisfied sigh.

The End.


End file.
